“If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint“, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
A misconception about van Gogh is that he never felt successful. This is true about the end of his life; however, he'd felt happy with himself when he was younger, when he'd been experimenting with painting and art. But it wasn't long-lasting.
He was born on March 30th, 1853. He'd grown up into a very religious family with an uncle who dealt art. His younger brother had followed in his uncle's footsteps and grew up to be an art dealer as well. Later feeling this didn't suit his needs, van Gogh decided to instead follow his father and go into theology. Even later he made the transition to connecting with miners and peasants in a place called Borinage.
Finally he'd been pressured into becoming what he's known for - an artist. This brother, Theo, had been the one who pushed him towards this occupation. He settled back at home at age 27 to teach himself how to draw. Though he'd been raised around his uncle and brother, he had little to no prior artistic talent. He and his parents doubted himself, yet he persisted. Theo assisted Vincent the most, somewhat forcing him into art but helping him along the way. He studied anatomy, perspective, and shadowing with works mostly on the peasant life, tying into his time spent at Borinage. His cousin-by-marriage Anton Mauve tutored him in art. This showed concerted cultivation from his brother and cousin. He had great tutors until an incident with a prostitute cost him his friendship with Mauve.
He wasn't a confident person, and he had little practical intelligence. I couldn't find much about his orating or speaking skills, but my best guess is that he wasn't articulate. Being ridden with mental and physical diseases took a toll on him and he rarely seemed genuinely happy. His ailments were surely a distraction and a burden. (Sidenote- some say the swirling lines of Starry Night might have been a representation of his mental state at the time, as he painted this in the asylum he committed himself to for cutting off his own ear and threatening his roommate with a knife. Others believe it was what his delusions, epileptic fits, and other mental blocks made him see.)
From researching van Gogh's quotes and looking at his paintings, I can tell he had an adequate amount of creative intelligence. He brought his art to life with the use of vibrant colors, a method extremely popular during his time. It suggested that he knew how to please himself and the world simultaneously, yet he failed with both.
He unknowingly poisoned himself by consuming yellow paint. He thought yellow was a happy color, and that swallowing it would put the happiness in him.
“Exaggerate the essential, leave the obvious vague.”
He committed suicide in 1890. He said that it was "for the good of all." He died with few friends and ignored as an artist.
Was Vincent van Gogh successful? My answer is no. His tragic life reflected hardly anything he was proud of, and what is success without knowing it? One might argue of the prices of his works today, or how famously his paintings lay in museums around the world. But is being renowned only after death considered success? My definition of success dealt mainly with being content within yourself and your own standards, and van Gogh was certainly not.
