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Vincent van Gogh chronology

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This is a chronology of the artist Vincent van Gogh. It is based as far as possible on on Van Gogh's correspondence in Van Gogh's Letters, Unabridged and Annotated[1]. However, it has only been possible to construct the chronology by drawing on additional sources. Most of his letters are not dated, and it was only in 1973 that a sufficient dating was established by Jan Hulsker, subsequently revised by Ronald Pickvance and marginally corrected by others. Many other relevant dates in the chronology derive from the biographies of his brother Theo, his uncle and godfather Cent, his friends Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, and others.


Contents:

1853 1855 1857
1861 1862 1864 1866 1867 1868 1869
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879
1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
1890

Notes and references


1850

  • November 6: Vincent van Gogh (Uncle Cent) marries Cornelia Carbentus, in The Hague

1851

  • May 21: Ds. Theodorus van Gogh, since 1849 pastor in Groot-Zundert, marries Anna Cornelia Carbentus, his sister-in-law, in The Hague

1852

  • March 30: a first son, called Vincent, is born "lifeless" (in Dutch "levenloos")[2]

1853

  • March 30: Vincent Willem van Gogh, called Vincent, is born in Groot-Zundert (today Zundert)

1855

  • February 17: sister Anna Cornelia van Gogh, called Anna, is born

1857

  • May 1: brother Theodorus van Gogh, called Theo, is born

1859

1861

1862

  • March 16: sister Willemina Jacoba van Gogh, called Wil, is born

1864

  • October 1: in Zevenbergen to attend the school of Jan Provily

1866

  • August: leaves Zevenbergen
  • September 3: enters secondary school at Tilburg

1867

  • May 17: brother Cornelis Vincent van Gogh, called Cor, is born

1868

  • March: leaves Tilburg and returns to his family in Zundert

1869

1870

1871

  • January: Van Gogh's family moves to Helvoirt

1872

  • ?: Uncle Cent, at his time one of three shareholders of Goupil & Cie., retires from business, but continues holding his shares

1873

  • January 1: Theo starts apprenticeship with Goupil & Cie, Brussels
  • February 19: the lot has fallen on Vincent to serve in the army, but father bought him out (and therefore, according to the law, his younger brothers Theo and Cor, too)[3]
  • May 12: Vincent leaves for Paris where he visits the Paris branches of Goupil & Cie, the Salon and the Musée du Luxembourg
  • a week later: takes up work at the London branch of Goupil & Cie; it is not known, where he first lodged
  • August: moves to the house of Ursula Loyer and her daughter Eugenie in Brixton, 87 Hackford Road

1874

  • June 27 - July 15: summer holiday with his family in Helvoirt
  • August: moves to Kennington (Ivy Cottage, 395 Kennington Road)
  • November: on the demand of Uncle Cent, Vincent is transferred to Paris to get acquainted with the headquarters of Goupil & Cie [4]
  • November 26: Jet Carbentus, a cousin of Vincent, marries Anton Mauve
  • Christmas: with his family in Helvoirt

1875

  • January 2: returns to London
  • May 24: Goupil's London opens its first exhibition
  • end of May: Vincent is re-transfered to Paris head quarters
  • October 18: Van Gogh's family moves to Etten
  • Christmas: with his family in Etten
  • December 30: visits Uncle C. M. in the Hague to talk about his future[5]
  • December 31: father thinks he has to advise Vincent to resign[6]

1876

  • January 4: back to Paris, a talk with Léon Boussod ends with Van Gogh's resignation[7]
  • March 30: his last day at Goupil's
  • March 31: returns to Etten for a fortnight
  • April 7: Theo, too, is on visit in Etten[8]
  • April 14: Vincent leaves for England[9]
  • April 16: arrives at Ramsgate to teach at the school of William Stokes, 6 Royal Road; he lodges nearby at 11 Spencer Square
  • June: Stokes transfers his school to Isleworth, Linkfield House, 183 Twickenham Road
  • July 3: Van Gogh moves to the school of Reverend Thomas Slade-Jones (1829-1883) at Holme Court, 158 Twickenham Road, Isleworth
  • October 29: first sermon at Richmond Methodist Church[10]
  • Christmas: returns to Etten

1877

  • January to May: works as a bookseller's assistant in Dordrecht
  • May 14: moves to Amsterdam to study for entrance into the university[11]
    • needs rework

1878

  • ?: Uncle Cent withdraws his shares from Goupil & Cie.
  • March: Tersteeg has recommended Theo to assist Goupil & Cie in Paris during the World Fair
  • July 5: Vincent abandons studies and returns to Etten
  • July 16-17: father introduces Vincent to the governors of the Evangelical College (Vlaamse opleidingsschool) in Laeken, near Brussels; Reverend Jones is accompanying them [12]. One of six founders in 1875, was Abraham van der Waeyen Pieterszen
  • 24 August: having postponed his depart to assist at the wedding of his sister Anna (August 21), Vincent moves to Laeken[13]
  • October 27: C. M. Vos, husband of Kee Vos Stricker, dies
  • December: fails exams
  • December 26: turns to the Comitee (Comité d'Evangélisation) and asks to be accepted for the Borinage

1879

  • January: for 6 months on trial, Vincent is accepted to do evangelical work in the Borinage [14]
  • late June: Vincent temporary contract will not be renewed, and he is given three months to find something else. [15]
  • July 31: his contract ends
  • August 1: next day, Vincent sets out on a first walk to find employment, all across the Borinage up to the North. Finally, in Tournai, he shifts to North-east to visit Reverend Abraham van der Waeyen Pieterszen in Maria-Hoorebeeke, but when he arrives on Sunday afternoon (August 3), Pieterszen is out for some days in Brussels, where they meet on Monday morning (August 4) [16]
  • August 5: he is in Cuesmes 'again', close to Mons; as Theo is expected to pass Mons by train soon, Vincent asks his brother to meet there [17]
  • August ?: spends a day with Theo, leaves for Wasmes in the evening where he is lodged by J. B. Denis, Rue du Petit Wasmes à Wasmes (Hainaut).[18]
  • August 15 Vincent arrives back at Etten to stay with his parents [19]

1880

  • Spring ???: stays with family at Etten[20]
  • March 11: Vincent is still with his parents
  • mid March ???: when father tries to put him to an asylum (Gheel), he escapes to Cuesmes
  • end March ???: Vincent sets out on a second walk to find employment in the Borinage, in the end he walks to Courrières and goes to visit Jules Breton, but doesn't have the nerve to enter the property.[21]
  • first days of July: a while after his return to Cuesmes, Vincent learns that money recently sent by his parents was in fact from Theo; thanking him for his support, Vincent tries to explain his present situation; he is staying with Ch. Decrucq, Rue du Pavillon 8, Cuesmes.[22] Theo forwarded this letter to the parents who commented on July 5 [23].
  • August 20: takes up correspondence with Theo again[24]
  • September: works after Bargue's platework (Cours de dessin), which he got on loan from Tersteeg, head of Goupil & Cie in The Hague[25]
  • October: moves to Brussels, takes the advice of Willem Roelofs and enrols in a beginners art course at the Academy; as suggested by Theo, he meets Rappard

1881

  • April: moves back to Etten and draws;
  • April 17: meets Theo
  • Mid-June: Rappard on visit in Etten
  • Summer: Kee Vos Stricker spends some time in Etten with Vincent's parents, who falls in love with her [26]
  • August 23-26: trip to The Hague; he visits Anton Mauve and De Bock, sees some exhibitions and the recently opened Panorama Mesdag[27]
  • late November: writes letter to Uncle Stricker[28], and within a couple of days goes to Amsterdam in person himself[29]
  • ?: arrives in Amsterdam and demands to see Kee but does not see her; aunt and uncle Stricker accompany him to a good and cheap lodging, where he stays for some days.[30]
  • November 27 or December 4: "sunday evening" at about 7 o'clock, he arrives in The Hague to stay with Anton Mauve for some time. Mauve encourages him to work in oils and watercolours.
  • December 19: Vincent is still in The Hague[31] and unable to leave, as he is short of money.[32] A few days later he is back to Etten, and confesses that recently - evidently for the first time in his life - he has accepted the invitation of a back-street girl.[33]
  • December 25: On Christmas Day, Vincent quarrels with his father who had tried to force him to assist the Christmas service, and leaves for The Hague.[34]

1882

  • January: moves into a small studio, Schenkweg 138
  • mid to late January: meets Clasina Maria Hoornik ('Sien') and sets up a domestic relationship with her
  • June 7: admitted to municipal hospital to be treated for gonorrhoea
  • July 1: leaves the hospital;[35] in the next days he moves next door into a larger studio, Schenkweg 136 (since 1884: Schenkstraat 13) [36]
  • July 2: Sien gives birth to a baby boy, whom is given the name Willem
  • August: following a visit of Theo who supplied money for colour, Van Gogh starts painting in oil at the sea coast in Scheveningen
  • November: has trial proofs of 6 lithographs printed

1883

  • September: leaves Sien, and moves to Drenthe
  • December: leaves Drenthe, and returns to parents' home, now in Nuenen
  • December 7: date of the postmark on the back of a pen drawing (F.1237) that signalized Theo his arrival in Nuenen

1884

  •  ? : the Goupil family retires, the firm is again transformed and renamed in Boussod, Valadon & Cie, successeurs de Goupil & Cie
  • January 17: descending from a train, Van Gogh's mother breaks her leg; Vincent is caring for her
  • end March: Theo starts buying and selling Impressionists, beginning with a painting by Pissarro[37]
  • August ???: Margot Begemann attempts suicide

1885

  • March 26: Vincent's father dies
  • March 27: Theo travels to Nuenen for the funeral
  • March 30: father 's funeral
  • May: Vincent leaves his mother's house
  • August: first exhibition, in windows of the art dealer Leurs in The Hague.
  • October 6-8: visit to Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum
  • November 24: leaves for Antwerp

1886

  • January 18: enrols in Antwerp Academy of Art (Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten) for the winter term 1885-1886 at the Antique class[38]
  • mid March: arrives in Paris and asks Theo to see him in the Louvre[39]
  • April 3: relegated by the coucil of the Antwerp Academy to the entrance course[40]; by this time Van Gogh is already in Paris
  • May 15: Opening of the 8th Impressionist exhibition; running through June 15
  • June: the Van Gogh brothers move from Rue de Laval to a larger apartment, Rue Lepic 54 [41]
  • August: Theo is on vacation in Holland, discusses with family and uncles his plan to establish an art gallery of his own. Meanwhile Vincent falls ill, and for some time Andries Bonger shares the apartment to care for Vincent and "S.", Theo's mistress [42]
  • August 19 or 26: Theo is back to Paris[43]
  • August 21: Opening of the 2nd exhibition of the Artistes Indépendants; running through September 21
  • October 25: Van Gogh proposes an exchange of works with Charles Angrand [44]
  • ???: studies for three months at studio of Fernand Cormon.

1887

  • January: Vincent signs his first portrait of "Père" Tanguy, and later this year portraits of "Mère" Tanguy and one of their friends[45]
  • March 11: Theo states that it is impossible to get on with Vincent [46]
  • March 26: Opening of the 3rd exhibition of the Artistes Indépendants; running through June 8
  • April 26: Vincent and Theo have made peace[47]
  • Spring: Vincent campaigns in Asnières
  • November 14: Paul Gauguin arrives in Paris, just back from Martinique
  • December: Gauguin consigns paintings to Theo van Gogh
  • December 26: Theo's first sale of a painting by Gauguin [48]
  • December/January (?): Vincent arranges an exhibition of paintings by himself, Bernard, Anquetin and (probably) Toulouse-Lautrec in the Restaurant du Chalet, on Montmartre. Bernard and Anquetin sell their first painting, Vincent exchanges work with Gauguin [49]

1888

  • January 1: Theo, accompanied by a second person (probably Manzi, not Vincent?), visit Gauguin in his atelier and acquire 3 paintings for Boussod & Valadon
  • January 4: Theo acquires, privately, Gauguin's Negresses, and Manzi a seascape
  • January 12: Theo acquires, privately, Toulouse-Lautrec's "Poudre de riz"
  • February 5: Anton Mauve dies
  • February 19: Vincent departs from Paris
  • February 20: arrives in Arles
  • March 22: Opening of the 4th exhibition of the Artistes Indépendants; Van Gogh contributes 3 paintings
  • May 1: takes lease on the Yellow House.
  • June: works for a week in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
  • September 8: buys two beds for the Yellow House [50]
  • September 17: spends first night in the Yellow House
  • October 23: Paul Gauguin arrives to stay with Vincent
  • November: Gauguin receives the invitation to exhibit with Les XX in spring 1889
  • December: Gauguin and Van Gogh on a trip to Montpellier visit the Musée Fabre to see the Bruyas collection [51]
  • December 23: Van Gogh cuts off part of his ear
  • December 24: Van Gogh is taken to the hospital
  • December 25: Theo visits Vincent in hospital; that evening Theo and Gauguin leave for Paris

1889

  • January 5: Theo goes to Amsterdam
  • January 8: Vincent leaves hospital
  • January 9: engagement party of Theo and Jo in Amsterdam
  • January 14: Theo is back to Paris
  • February 7: Vincent is again taken to hospital after a second attack
  • February 17: he leaves hospital again
  • February 18: citizens' petition against Van Gogh
  • February 26: he is confined to hospital on police orders
  • March 23-24: Paul Signac, on the request of Theo, visits Vincent in the hospital
  • March 31: Theo departs for Amsterdam
  • April 18: Theo marries Johanna Gesina Bonger
  • May 8: Vincent admits himself to the asylum at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence; the only other option was to be transferred to a maison de santé elsewhere
  • June ?: Gauguin and friends organize an exhibition of their works in the Café Volpini (Exposition des Peintures du Groupe impressioniste et synthétiste, faite dans le local de M. Volpini au Champ-de-Mars 1889); Vincent is invited to participate, but Theo thinks it is inappropriate[52]
  • July 8: visit to Arles
  • July 15: last batch of paintings from Arles sent to Paris
  • July 18: crisis, lasting to midth end of August
  • September: Van Gogh takes up work again
  • September 3: Opening of the 5th exhibition of the Artistes Indépendants, running through October 4; Van Gogh contributes 2 paintings
  • November 15: Octave Maus, secretary of Les XX, invites Van Gogh to participate in their forthcoming 7th annual exhibtion in February 1890; Van Gogh accepts

1890

  • January 18: Opening of the 7th annual exhibition of Les XX, Brussel, running through February 23; Van Gogh contributes 6 paintings, one of them is sold to Anna Boch. At the dinner Henry de Groux insults Van Gogh's paintings, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec demands satisfaction and Paul Signac declares that he would continue, if Lautrec should be surrendered.[53]
  • January 31: Theo's son Vincent is born
  • February 22-23: while on a visit to Arles, Van Gogh falls ill and has to be brought back to Saint-Rémy on a carriage. This crisis, lasting about nine weeks until the last days of April, is the longest recorded
  • March 20: Opening of the 6th exhibition of the Artistes Indépendants, running through April 27; Van Gogh contributes 10 paintings, 5 of which have already been shown at Les XX in Brussels. Gauguin, Guillaumin and other colleagues propose to exchange works[54], Monet sends his congratulations [55]
  • May 1: recovered, he has taken up work again [56]
  • May 16: Vincent is discharged from Saint Rémy, he travels to Paris, arrives May 17, at 10 in the morning
  • May 17 - 20: stays with Theo in Paris
  • May 20: moves to Auvers-sur-Oise
  • June 8: Theo and family visit
  • July 6: visits Theo in Paris
  • July 15: Theo accompanies his wife and son to Holland; travelling via Antwerp and
  • July 19: he is back in Paris
  • July 23: business forces Theo out for a day in Antwerp. Vincent conceives his last letter
  • July 27: injures himself with a gun
  • July 29: dies

1891

  • January 25: Theo dies in De Bilt

Resources

Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ See entry in the civil register of Zundert, reproduced in Tralbaut 1974, p. 18
  3. ^ Letter from father to Theo, 19 February 1873
  4. ^ Letter from mother to Theo, 28 October 1874
  5. ^ Letter from mother and father to Theo, 31 December 1875
  6. ^ Letter from mother and father to Theo, 31 December 1875
  7. ^ Letter from father to Theo, 12 January 1876
  8. ^ Letter from father and mother to Theo, 31 March 1876
  9. ^ Letter from mother to Theo, 16 April 1876
  10. ^ For the text of Vincent's sermon see Letter 79
  11. ^ Letter from father to Theo, 7 May 1877
  12. ^ Letter from father to Theo, 22 July 1878
  13. ^ Letter from mother to Theo, 21 August 1878
  14. ^ Letter from father to Theo, 20 January 1879
  15. ^ Letter from mother to Theo, 2 July 1879
  16. ^ Letter from father to Theo, 7 August 1879. Dates corrected according to the content of the letter.
  17. ^ Letter 131
  18. ^ Letter 132
  19. ^ Letter from mother to Theo, 19 August 1879
  20. ^ Erickson, page 68
  21. ^ in letter 136 dated 24 September 1880 from Cuesmes he describes this trip as occurring in winter; see also Martin Gayford, The Yellow House: Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Nine Turbulent Weeks in Arles, Fig Tree, Penguin, 2006. ISBN 0-670-91497-5. See page 177. - March 1880 is also the date proposed by Jan Hulsker, Van Gogh in close-up, Amsterdam 1993 ISBN 90-290-4914-6
  22. ^ Letter 133
  23. ^ Letter from the parents to Theo, July 5, 1880
  24. ^ Letter 134
  25. ^ Letter 135, September 7, 1880
  26. ^ Anne Styles Wylie (Vincent & Kee and the municipal archives in Amsterdam, Vincent IV/2, 1973, p. 2-7) pointed out that Van Gogh already admired Kee in 1877, while he was in Amsterdam and they both watched her husband dying.
  27. ^ Van Gogh und die Haager Schule, Vienna 1996, p. 59 and p. 63 note 1 ISBN 88-8118-072-3
  28. ^ Letter 161 to Theo, 23 November 1881
  29. ^ Letter 162 to Theo, 1-3 December 1881, saying he has already been to Amsterdam
  30. ^ Letter 164 to Theo, 21 December 1881, giving more detail of visit, few days, last visit on a Sunday (presumably Sunday 27 November 1881). To be revised?!
  31. ^ Letter from mother to Theo, 19 December 1881
  32. ^ Letter 163
  33. ^ Letter 164, c. December 21, 1881. No name is mentioned, but this may be the first reference to Sien.
  34. ^ Letter 166, 29 December 1881
  35. ^ Extract from the patients' register illustrated in: Marc Edo Tralbaut, Vincent van Gogh, Macmillan, London 1969, p. 87
  36. ^ Jan Hulsker: The houses where Van Gogh lived in The Hague, Vincent I/1, p. 2-11
  37. ^ John Rewald, Theo van Gogh, Goupil, and the Impressionists, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, January & February 1973, p. 5
  38. ^ Confirmation of registration illustrated in Marc Edo Tralbaut, Vincent van Gogh, Macmillan, London 1969, p. 181
  39. ^ Letter 459, and Andries Bonger's letter to his parents, March 17, 1886 (Complete Letters, New York ²1978, no. 462a)
  40. ^ see extract from the patients' register: Marc Edo Tralbaut, Vincent van Gogh, Macmillan, London, p. 87, ill.
  41. ^ Theo to his mother, June, 1886
  42. ^ Letter 460
  43. ^ Andries Bonger's letter to his parents, August 27, 1886 (Complete Letters, New York ²1978, no. 462a)
  44. ^ Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov, The early work of Charles Angrand and his contact with Vincent van Gogh, Editions Victorine, Utrechts & The Hague 1971, fig. 24 and Appendix IV
  45. ^ Letter 506 to Theo, 9 July 1888, and the painting, dated "Janvier 87"
  46. ^ Theo to his brother Cor, March 11,1887; a similar complaint in a letter to their sister Wil, March 14, 1887
  47. ^ Theo to Wil,April 26, 1887
  48. ^ John Rewald, Theo van Gogh, Goupil, and the Impressionists, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, January & February 1973, p. 90-91
  49. ^ Letter 510, July 15, 1888. There are two short accounts of this exhibition, one based on inforamtion supplied by Seurat, and the other written by Emile Bernard. For the paintings exchanged, see Tellegen.
  50. ^ Letter 534
  51. ^ Letter 564, c. mid December, 1888
  52. ^ 594. T10. 595
  53. ^ John Rewald, Post-Impressionism, revised edition: Secker & Warburg, London 1978, p. 346-347
  54. ^ Letters GAC 40 from Gauguin to Van Gogh, April 1890 (?) (Paul Gauguin: 45 Letters, ed. Douglas Cooper, The Hague 1983, p. 304-311 ISBN 90-12-03899-5), Letter T29 from Theo to Vincent, 19 March 1890, and Letter 630 from Vincent to Theo, 1 May 1890
  55. ^ Letter T32 from Theo to Vincent, 23 April 1890
  56. ^ Letter 630 from Vincent to Theo, 1 May 1890, posted 2 May

References

anonymous (initialled "H.H.H." and "W.F.d.C.H."): Van Gogh, 's-Gravenhage, Nederland's Patriciaat 50, 1964, p. 171-183

Cooper, Douglas (ed.): Paul Gauguin: 45 Letters, The Hague 1983, p. 304-311 ISBN 90-12-03899-5

Hulsker, Jan: The elusive van Gogh, and what his parents really thought of him, Simiolus 19/4, 1989, p. 243-270 ISSN 0037-5411

Rewald, John: Theo van Gogh, Goupil, and the Impressionists, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, January & February 1973, p. 1-

Rewald, John: Post-Impressionism, revised edition: Secker & Warburg, London 1978

Tralbaut, Marc Edo: Vincent van Gogh, Macmillan, London 1969

Welsh-Ovcharov, Bogomila: The early work of Charles Angrand and his contact with Vincent van Gogh, Editions Victorine, Utrecht & The Hague 1971

Wylie, Anne Styles: Vincent & Kee and the municipal archives in Amsterdam, Vincent IV/2, 1973, p. 2-7

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