Van Gogh – A Timeline
1850s
1853
1853 Vincent Willem van Gogh is born on 30 March in Groot-Zundert, Markt 26.
1855 Birth of his sister Anna
1857 Birth of his brother Theodore (Theo)
1859 Birth of his sister Elisabeth (Lies)
1862 Birth of his sister Willemien (Will)
1867 Birth of his brother Cornelis (Cor)
1860s
1870s
1880s
1881
Late December After Christmas Van Gogh sets up his studio in rented rooms at Schenkweg 138 in The Hague.
I’ve rented a studio here, namely a room and alcove which can be made suitable. Inexpensive enough, just outside town in Schenkweg.
Van Gogh to Theo, The Hague, December 1881
1882
Van Gogh encounters the pregnant ex-prostitute Sien Hoornik, who becomes his regular model.
June Van Gogh tells Theo that he has collected more than a thousand prints, mostly from English and French illustrated magazines.
June/July Van Gogh is treated in a Hague hospital for gonorrhoea.
July Van Gogh’s companion Sien and her two children (a five-year-old daughter, Maria, and baby son, Willem) move into his rooms at Schenkweg.
1882
Van Gogh has a perspective frame made, to help him represent objects in correct proportion at varying distances.
Early August Van Gogh writes to Theo from The Hague which includes this sketch of him using his perspectival frame on the windy beach and dunes of Scheveningen.
1883
June
Do you know what I sometimes long for? A trip to Brabant. I would so like to do the old churchyard at Nuenen.
Van Gogh to Theo, The Hague, June 1883
1883
Late July Van Gogh writes to Theo that he considers all his artistic output to be Theo’s property.
August Van Gogh receives visits from Theo and Van Rappard and sends many drawings to his Uncle Cor, who accepts them on commission.
1884
Early May In need of a more a conducive workplace, Van Gogh rents rooms from the Catholic sacristan Johannes Schafrat in Nuenen to use as a studio.
Two rooms – one large and one small – en suite. … I believe I’ll be able to work a good deal more pleasantly there than in the little room at home.
Van Gogh to Theo, Nuenen, May 1884
1884
Mid November Van Gogh begins teaching local pupils met at the artist materials shop in Eindhoven run by a local chemist, Jantje L. Baijens.
He passes on his new-found knowledge of still life painting, learned from Mauve, to Hermans, a local tanner named Anton Kerssemakers and a telegraph operator, Willem van de Wakker.
1885
Early May Van Gogh argues with his sister Anna and leaves home, to live in the studio he has rented from Schafrat.
June Van Gogh completes The potato eaters, which he sends to Theo, along with many other paintings.
He continues to read widely on art history and technique.
1885
October Van Gogh and his pupil/friend Kerssemakers spend three days in Amsterdam, visiting the newly opened Rijksmuseum, designed by the Catholic architect Pierre Cuypers. They also see the Fodor Collection of contemporary and mid nineteenth-century art. Van Gogh keeps sending Theo paintings.
The new Rijksmuseum, 1876–85, by Pierre Cuypers (1827–1921)
1886
Late January Malnourished, Van Gogh has about ten teeth cut down, and notes he looks prematurely aged, ‘over 40, which puts me at too much of a disadvantage’. He tells Theo that I ‘look as though I’ve spent 10 years in prison’.
Van Gogh joins two further night classes to draw from the model. Dissatisfied with this traditional training, he thinks about going to Paris to draw in the more progressive studio of Fernand Corman. He soon leaves Antwerp for Paris.
1886 John Russell paints and draws Van Gogh’s portrait.
1886
From 1886–87, unable to tolerate formal art classes nor able to find regular models to sit for him, Van Gogh decides to bring himself up to date with recent art movements by applying the principles of each movement to flower paintings.
By painting still lifes Van Gogh systematically teaches himself about Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, colour theory and the rich use of colour by the Marseilles artist Adolphe Monticelli (1824–1886).
1886
As you may know, I am living with my brother Vincent, who is studying painting with indefatigable diligence. Since he needs quite a lot of space for his work, we are living in quite a large apartment in Montmartre (rue Lepic 54) which, as you know, is a suburb of Paris built up against a hill. The remarkable thing about our flat is that from the windows we have a magnificent view across the city with the hills of Meudon, St-Cloud etc. on the horizon, and a piece of sky above it that is almost as big as when one stands on the dunes.
Theo to Caroline van Stockum-Haanebeek, Paris, July 1887
1886
At the art supply shop of Julien (Père) Tanguy, Van Gogh meets the painter Émile Bernard, who introduces him to the painter Louis Anquetin. Van Gogh acquaints his new friends with Siegfried Bing’s Japanese collection and also meets the Neo-Impressionist painter Charles Angrand.
Van Gogh will refer to the young painter friends he makes in Paris as the artists of the ‘Petit Boulevard’, because their studios and cafés are located around the boulevard de Clichy and the boulevard de Rochechouart in Montmartre.
He names the older generation of financially successful Impressionists the artists of the ‘Grand Boulevard’. These artists exhibit with renowned galleries such as Boussod, Valadon & Cie, Durand-Ruel and Georges Petit along the fashionable boulevards near the Opera.
1886–87
Autumn–winter Van Gogh meets up regularly with fellow artists at Toulouse-Lautrec’s weekly gatherings in his studio.
1887
November – December Van Gogh organises an exhibition at the Grand Bouillon Restaurant on the avenue de Clichy, displaying work by ‘painters of the Petit Boulevard’: Anquetin, Bernard, Arnold Konig, Toulouse-Lautrec and himself. Georges Seurat and Paul Gauguin visit the exhibition.
December Gauguin arranges for himself and Van Gogh to exchange paintings.
Winter – Spring Van Gogh exhibits a painting at the Théâtre Libre, an experimental theatre located at 96 rue Blanche, Paris, and managed by André Antoine, for whom the avant-garde designs posters.
1888
February
Vincent left for the south last Sunday, first to Arles to get his bearings and then probably on to Marseille. The new school of painters tries above all to get light and sun into paintings, and you can well understand that the grey days lately have supplied little material for subjects. Moreover, the cold was making him ill. The years of so much worry and adversity haven’t made him any stronger, and he felt a definite need for rather milder air. A day and a night’s travel and one is there.
Theo to his sister Willemien, Paris, February 1888
1888
February Van Gogh arrives in Arles during one of the coldest Februaries on record. The snow lasts until March. Once the weather turns he is captivated by the blossoming trees in the orchards.
Now I’ll tell you that for a start, there’s been a snowfall of at least 60 centimetres all over, and it’s still snowing. Arles doesn’t seem any bigger than Breda or Mons to me.
Van Gogh to Theo, Arles, February 1888
1888
May
I leave early tomorrow morning for Saintes-Maries, on the Mediterranean; I’ll stay there till Saturday evening. I’m taking two canvases but I’m a little afraid there could well be too much wind to paint. You go by diligence, it’s 50 kilometres from here. You cross the Camargue, grassy plains where there are herds of bulls and herds of small white horses, half-wild and quite beautiful.
Van Gogh to Theo, Arles, May 1888
1888
May
I sent you some more drawings today, and I’m adding two more. They’re views taken from a rocky hill from which you can see in the direction of the Crau (an area from which a very good wine comes), the town of Arles and in the direction of Fontvieille. The contrast between the wild and romantic foreground – and the broad, tranquil distant prospects … is very picturesque.
Van Gogh to Theo, Arles, May 1888
1888
23 December Van Gogh suffers an extreme mental breakdown. He cuts off a large part of his ear with a razor and is admitted to hospital the following day.
1889
March–May Theo and Jo Bonger marry, but Van Gogh is not invited to the wedding.
Despite his setbacks, Van Gogh is productive and sends Theo around thirty paintings.
In May, Van Gogh persuades Theo to provide him with the funds to be admitted to the asylum of Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Rémy, 25 kilometres north-east of Arles.
1889
December Van Gogh sends Theo seven paintings for his mother and Willemien. He sends further pictures to Theo before his health deteriorates further. He attempts to poison himself by eating paint.
1890s
1890
January The year begins badly as Van Gogh suffers a further breakdown. Jo Bonger van Gogh gives birth to a son, who is named Vincent Willem.
Van Gogh’s work is included in a prestigious exhibition in Brussels, the 8th exhibition of Les XX, and one of his paintings is bought by the Belgian Impressionist artist Anna Boch for 400 francs.
1890
Mid May Van Gogh suddenly leaves Saint-Rémy. He travels to Paris and meets Jo and his nephew for the first time. He spends only three nights in the city.
Late May After his short stay in Paris, Van Gogh settles in Auvers-sur-Oise, just north of Paris. He finds lodgings at the Auberge Ravoux, place de la Mairie, and places himself in the care of Dr Paul Ferdinand Gachet, who has been recommended to him by Theo.
1890
May Dr Paul Ferdinand Gachet is a specialist in melancholic conditions, and is an aspiring artist, signing himself ‘Paul van Ryssel’.
Gachet has many artist friends, including Pissarro, Cezanne and Guillaumin. He oversaw Renoir’s recovery from pneumonia in 1882, and advised Manet against the amputation of his leg in 1883.
A generous host, Gachet and his family, home and garden were often depicted by his artist-friends.
1890
June Van Gogh paints in and around Auvers-sur-Oise virtually from the day he arrives. He loves the countryside around Auvers and is again captivated by the farmland, especially the wheatfields.
Aside from painting landscapes, Van Gogh returns to figure studies and portraiture.
Van Gogh paints furiously and completes around seventy paintings in the short time he spends in Auvers.
1890
27 July Van Gogh is greatly troubled towards the end of July. He is concerned for his brother and his new family as well as dealing with his own issues. He goes to paint in a wheatfield on the outskirts of Auvers and shoots himself in the chest. He does not die immediately and Theo rushes to Auvers and sits with him for his last hours.
29 July Vincent van Gogh dies in the arms of his brother early in the morning.
Van Gogh – A Timeline, was produced for the exhibition, Van Gogh and the Seasons. Click through the slides to read about Van Gogh’s life, see the cities he lived in, the development of his work and much more.