Vincent Van Gogh is an artist who became famous as an artist after his death. It is surprising that no one understood his art when he was alive. He worked as a full-time artist only for 10 years of his life but his creations were many.
Yet, he spent his life as an unsuccessful person. For his bad luck, he got the due recognition only after his death. 
Early life
Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. His father was Theodorous and his mother was Anna. Van Gogh was the eldest child in the family. He went to the village school near their home. After school he worked in his uncle’s art store.
He worked there for two years and he went to find a new job. He worked as a teacher and read the Bible every day and wanted to become a priest but he failed the exam. A few years later, he went to Paris to live with his brother Theo. They were always arguing about art and who’s the better painter.
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| Tharusara attempts at drawing like Van Gogh |
Finally, Van Gogh decided to be a painter in the last decade of his life. From 1888, he was suffering from insanity time to time and in 1890 he committed suicide at the age of 37.
He painted more than 200 different paintings during a short period of time. But he was sad and alone during his life.
Van Gogh’s art
I like his art because of his creativity in small stripes. He uses stripes on every square inch of the canvas. His patience could be seen through his art.
His creations, Starry night, Sunflowers, Yellow house, The old tower, His bedroom in Arles and The Potato eaters are some of his well-known creations. He often painted buildings, nature and portraits of people. His paintings were unique and can be recognised easily.
The Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum was opened in 1973 and consists of two buildings. It is in Amsterdam, Netherlands and was designed by a Dutch architect.
The Van Gogh Museum is regarded as the most visited museum in Netherlands and the 23rd most visited art museum in the world. It had 2.3 million visitors in 2017.
Why I like Vincent
Van Gogh
When I was six years, Sumudu Pathiraja (Master Trainer in Performing Arts and Creative Studies) first taught me about Van Gogh and art.
That was the day I made my first attempt to draw a picture like Van Gogh.
At that time, I was too small to care or understand who he was but four years later I found a book in my grandfather’s library about Van Gogh and his drawings.
I was eager to know more about him. I like Van Gogh because of his style which has so many little details using stripes. Even though we can’t see stripes at first glance, there are definitely stripes if we study the picture carefully. I like his uniqueness in drawing.
I drew many different drawings and paintings and I tried following his style too.
Finally, I would like to add my first letter which I wrote to Van Gogh in Sumudu sir’s Confident Voices class in 2018 to this article.
Dear Vincent,
I learn about your paintings in my class. When I follow your style, I automatically become calm and quiet. My teacher and my parents were very happy about it. I also want to be a legend like you in future.
Tharusara Yuvaranga Perera
Grade 5
St Joseph’s College
Colombo 10
(Negombo Branch)