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Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March 1853–29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age of 37, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Little appreciated during his lifetime, his fame grew in the years after his death. Today, he is widely regarded as one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art. Van Gogh did not begin painting until his late twenties, and most of his best-known works were produced during his final two years. He produced about 850 oil paintings, 300 watercolors, and more than 1000 drawings and sketches. Today many of his pieces—including his numerous self portraits, landscapes, portraits and sunflowers—are among the world's most recognizable and expensive works of art.
Van Gogh's works are owned by art galleries and very rich individuals, who typically buy them as investments and keep them locked in bank vaults. Because of this, it is very difficult to find reproductions of them and almost impossible to find excellent ones. I am studying each picture, comparing all the copies I can find online and in books, and making the best reproductions I can. If high-resolution scans are publicly available I conserve all the detail; if not, I use digital effects. Then I put them on Zazzle products! Posters, mugs, t-shirts, cards, postcards, tote bags, calendars, magnets, keychains, mousepads, stickers, ties, postage stamps and more! I am happy that more people will see Vincent's work (and not just a few of the most famous paintings), and that I can pay my bills doing work that I love. But mainly I am doing this for fun. It is like a treasure hunt. --- Vicky Brago-Mitchell Vincent Van Gogh LinksVincent van Gogh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaVan Gogh Museum Vincent van Gogh Online Vincent van Gogh - The Letters van Gogh's Letters Vincent van Gogh Gallery - Welcome! The Vincent van Gogh Gallery |