“I want to paint what I feel and feel what I paint” -Vincent Willem Van Gogh. He grew up in a religious and cultural environment, was raised by a pastor and was very emotional and lacking in self-confidence. His mother was an artist whose love of drawing and watercolors was passed on to her son. Van Gogh was born on the exact same date as the death of his brother, also named Vincent. At a very young age, his name and date of birth were already engraved on the tombstone of his deceased brother, which could explain his emotional state. At age 15, van Gogh's family could not support him, so he left school and got a job with an art dealer. in The Hague where he began his career as a painting salesman. Van Gogh was then transferred to a company in London. After one of his lovers rejected him, he suffered a nervous breakdown. He became mad at customers and co-workers and dedicated his life to God. Van Gogh later taught in a school and also preached to parishioners. Hoping to one day be like his father, he prepares to take an entrance exam to a theology school, but is refused entry. Then Van Gogh volunteered to move to a coal mine in southern Belgium. He preached and ministered, and also drew pictures of the miners and their families. The Church became furious and he was asked to find another profession. Van Gogh was aimless until he decided to move to Brussels and take up art practice at the age of 27. Although he had no formal artistic training, his younger brother Theo offered to support van Gogh financially. Largely self-taught, Van Gogh began as an artist by copying prints and studying drawing manuals and course books. He had many reasons to draw. At the beginning of his profession, it seemed essential to him to master black and...... middle of paper...... even if most of them are destroyed or lost. Van Gogh's art aligns with the growing Symbolist movement and showcases the originality and intensity of his artistic vision. Van Gogh's work, remarkable for its beauty, emotion and color, had a strong impact on 20th century art. Fortunately, his mother lived to see her son hailed as an artist and genius. Van Gogh's inimitable fusion of form and content is powerful; dramatic, imaginative and emotional, as the artist was fully engaged in the effort to explain his struggle against madness or his understanding of the spiritual essence of man and nature. Van Gogh's most beautiful works were created in less than three years using a technique increasingly passionate about brushwork, color, surface tension, shape and line. If only he could live longer to create even more ingenious creations.