Vincent van Gogh biography

30 March 1853

Birth and youth at the parental home in Zundert

October 1864

Zevenbergen, at the boarding school run by Master Jan Provily

September 1866

September 1866

Tilburg, HBS college, living with the Hannik family (lodgings)

March 1868 to August 1869

March 1868 to August 1869

Vincent lives with his parents

August 1869 to June 1873

August 1869 to June 1873

The Hague, working as a trainee art dealer at the Goupil company

June 1873 to October 1874

June 1873 to October 1874

Working for the Goupil company in London

Summer 1874

Summer 1874

Living in Helvoirt, spends the summer holiday at his parents’ house

October 1874 to December 1874

October 1874 to December 1874

Paris, working at the head offices of the Goupil company

December 1874

December 1874

Christmas at his parents’ house

December 1874 to May 1875

December 1874 to May 1875

London, working at the Goupil company branch

May 1875 to April 1876

May 1875 to April 1876

Paris, working at the head offices of the Goupil company, travels via Etten to Ramsgate

April 1876 to June 1876

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

June 1876 to December 1876

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Isleworth, briefly working for Master William Stokes. He finds paid employment with clergyman Thomas Slade-Jones. The latter has a boarding school but is also a clergyman. Vincent assists him and regularly visits a number of churches.

December 1876 to January 1877

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Etten, short stay at his parents’ rectory.

January 1877 to May 1877

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Dordrecht, where he is an assistant in the book trade.

May 1877 to July 1878

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Amsterdam, Vincent lives with his ‘Uncle Jan’, Director of the marine shipyard. He receives private tutoring from M.B. Mendes da Costa in Latin and Greek. These subjects were prerequisites for his admission exam to study Theology. Learning Latin and Greek was not a success.

July 1878 to August 1878

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Etten, Roosendaalseweg 4, a short stay with his parents. The rectory no longer exists.

July 1878

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Brussels, visiting members of the Missionary committee in Brussels together with his father.

August 1878 to November 1878

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Brussels, trainee at school for missionaries.

November 1878 to August 1878

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Etten, a short stay with his parents. The rectory no longer exists.

December 1878 to January 1879

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Borinage, lay preacher among the impoverished mining community.

January 1879 to August 1879

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Wasmes, preaching in the Protestant orphanage called the ‘Salon de Bebé’. Lives there in extreme poverty in a small house. Following his dismissal, travels by foot to Brussels.

August 1879

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Brussels, where he visits clergyman Pietersen. Then walks to pastor Frank in Cuesmes in the Borinage.

August 1879 to October 1880

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Cuesmes, moves to the lodgings of mine worker Decrucq. In this house, ‘Maison du Marais’, there is a permanent exhibition.

March 1880

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Courrières, trip on foot through the departement of Le-Pas-de-Calais in order to visit the painter Jules Breton. He is too nervous to knock on the door and leaves again without contact.

October 1880 to April 1881

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Brussels, where he makes a number of drawings.

April 1881 to November 1881

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Etten, a stay with his parents. The rectory no longer exists.

November 1881 to September 1883

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

The Hague, Vincent meets Sien Hoornik and her children, and requires more space.

September 1883

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

staying in Deurne, 3 weeks in Hoogeveen, at the Hartsuiker lodgings.

October to December 1883

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord, the Scholte lodgings, the current Van Gogh House Drenthe.

December 1883 to November 1885

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Nuenen, a stay with his parents. Here he paints The Potato Eaters, among other works.

November 1885 to March 1886

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Antwerp, Vincent visits the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

March 1886 to February 1888

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Paris, where Theo and Vincent lived together. Theo worked at the head offices of Goupil, while Vincent followed lessons at Atelier Cormon. Vincent was able to stage one exhibition of his work in Cabaret-Restaurant ‘Le Tambourin’. Together with Emile Bernard and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec he was also able to stage one exhibition of his work in Restaurant du Chalet.

February 1888 to May 1889

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Arles, ‘The Yellow House’. Visit to Gaugin. Following the incident of the severed ear, he was to stay in hospital. The Yellow House was bombarded in WW II and subsequently demolished.

May 1889 to May 1890

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Saint-Remy de Provence, psychiatric institution in Saint-Paul-de-Mausole

May 1890 to 29 July 1890

Ramsgate, teaching at a boarding school

Auvers-sur-Oise, at the Ravoux inn. He shoots himself in the stomach and walks back to the inn, where he dies on 29 July.