"The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting."
These words were written by one of the greatest painters, Vincent van Gogh.
While van Gogh's life was full of disappointments and tragedy, he was able to overcome these in his art.
He produced some of the most important masterpieces of all time.
In his art, van Gogh created his own world of light, hope, and happiness.
Vincent van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853.
He had a happy childhood and grew up in a small village called Groot-Zundert.
Young Vincent enjoyed playing alone in the nearby fields and often made sketches of the plants he found.
He liked to draw at an early age, but he didn't become an artist until later in life.
Van Gogh was first an art dealer and later a church minister like his father.
He worked as an art dealer, but he was not very good at serving the public.
He was often rude to customers, and he disliked the idea of art being bought and sold.
After studying to be a minister, in 1879 van Gogh moved to Borinage, Belgium, a village of coal miners.
It was in Borinage that van Gogh started to paint.
The Potato Eaters is dark and gloomy.
Its colors communicate the hard life that the miners and their families suffered.
Vincent painted life as he saw it. He felt great kindness for the miners.
However, even though he often gave away his clothes and furniture, he was not a good minister.
Van Gogh left for Paris, the center of art and culture in Europe.
Once Vincent moved to Paris, his palette and his feelings about life changed. He had renewed energy and enthusiasm.
Instead of the old clothes he wore in Borinage, he wore a colorful scarf, a fashionable hat, and a suit.
He lived with his devoted brother Theo who was an art dealer there. He helped Vincent meet other artists.
In Paris Vincent met a group of artists called the Impressionists.
The Impressionists didn't paint things realistically,
but instead they tried to portray emotions through the use of short brushstrokes and brilliant colors.
Vincent was inspired. He painted Bridges in Asnieres with bright colors, in the style of the Impressionists.
After two years in Paris, van Gogh longed for the countryside.
He moved from Paris to a small village called Arles in southern France.
He made a bright yellow house his home.
Van Gogh spent his days painting the nearby wheat fields in the summer sun, the local people, and his beloved yellow house.
Yellow had become van Gogh's favorite color.
It represented all the hope, light, and happiness that he was searching for in life.
He painted fast, as if trying to capture a brief moment or feeling with his paintbrush.
He painted flowers, plum orchards, and cherry blossoms before they faded.
At Arles, he reached his artistic peak.
Around this time van Gogh became fascinated with painting sunflowers.
For him, they represented the energy and warmth of the sun.
He painted many versions of them, in different places and in different shades of yellow.
Today Sunflowers is one of the most famous paintings in the world, and it sold for $39.9 million.
It hangs behind bulletproof glass at a Japanese insurance company.
Vincent was lonely in Arles. His only friend was the local postman, Roulin.
Vincent painted eight portraits of the postman, as well as portraits of his wife and kids.
Despite his poverty, Roulin refused to be paid for letting Vincent paint him, and he often invited Vincent for dinner with his family.
Spending time with the Roulins made Vincent feel part of a family, something he had thought he would never feel again.
Van Gogh had only one friend in his village, and there were no other artists.
So he soon invited his friend, and fellow artist from Paris, Paul Gauguin, to come and work with him in Arles.
At first the two friends enjoyed each other's company.
They made grand plans for the future and complimented and supported each other's work,
but as time passed by, they started quarreling over their ideas about art.
It was after one big fight with Gauguin that Vincent cut off part of his ear.
He had to be taken to the hospital. Gauguin left Arles.
Van Gogh painted Self Portrait with a Bandaged Ear soon after, and it shows how miserable and sick he was.
From this time until his death, he would suffer many mental breakdowns.
Wheat Fields with Crows is one of Vincent's last paintings.
It shows how gloomy his thoughts were.
The sky is dark, the crows appear to be flying madly toward the viewer, and the road seems to lead nowhere.
Vincent, who was usually optimistic and tried to celebrate life in his paintings, had lost hope. His illness had overtaken him.
Theo came to see him from Paris, but it was too late.
He died in his brother's arms on July 29, 1890, at the age of 37.
He didn't become an artist until later in life and didn't live long,
but in the short time he painted, Vincent van Gogh created some of the most astonishing and important works of art of all time.