Editing Vincent van Gogh (section)

===Early years===
{{See also|Van Gogh's family in his art}}
Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in [[Zundert|Groot-Zundert]], in the predominantly Catholic province of [[North Brabant]] in the Netherlands.{{sfnp|Pomerans|1997|loc= 1}} He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh (1822–1885), a minister of the [[Dutch Reformed Church]], and his wife, Anna Cornelia Carbentus (1819–1907). Van Gogh was given the name of his grandfather and of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth.{{efn|group=note|It has been suggested that being given the same name as his dead elder brother might have had a deep psychological impact on the young artist and that elements of his art, such as the portrayal of pairs of male figures, can be traced back to this.{{sfnp|Lubin|1972|loc=82–84}}}} His grandfather, Vincent (1789–1874), was a prominent art dealer and a theology graduate from the [[University of Leiden]] in 1811. This Vincent had six sons, three of whom became art dealers, and may have been named after his great-uncle, a sculptor (1729–1802).{{sfnp|Erickson|1998|loc= 9}}

Van Gogh's mother came from a prosperous family in [[The Hague]].{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 14–16}} His father was the youngest son of a minister.{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 59}} The two met when Anna's younger sister, Cornelia, married Theodorus's older brother Vincent (Cent). Van Gogh's parents married in May 1851 and moved to Zundert.{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 18}} His brother Theo was born on 1 May 1857. There was another brother, [[Cor van Gogh|Cor]], and three sisters: Elisabeth, Anna, and [[Wil van Gogh|Willemina]] (known as "Wil"). In later life, Van Gogh remained in touch only with Willemina and Theo.{{sfnp|Walther|Metzger|1994|loc= 16}} Theodorus's salary as a minister was modest, but the Church also supplied the family with a house, a maid, two cooks, a gardener, a carriage and horse; his mother Anna instilled in the children a duty to uphold the family's high social position.{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 31–32}}

Van Gogh was a serious and thoughtful child.{{sfnp|Sweetman|1990|loc= 13}} He was taught at home by his mother and a governess, and in 1860, was sent to the village school. In 1864, he was placed in a boarding school at [[Zevenbergen]],{{sfnp|Tralbaut|1981|loc= 25–35}} where he felt abandoned, and he campaigned to come home. Instead, in 1866, his parents sent him to the middle school in [[Tilburg]], where he was also deeply unhappy.{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc=45–49}} His interest in art began at a young age. He was encouraged to draw as a child by his mother,{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc=36–50}} and his early drawings are expressive,{{sfnp|Tralbaut|1981|loc= 25–35}} but do not approach the intensity of his later work.{{sfnp|Hulsker|1980|loc=8–9}} [[Constant Cornelis Huijsmans]], who had been a successful artist in Paris, taught the students at Tilburg. His philosophy was to reject technique in favour of capturing the impressions of things, particularly nature or common objects. Van Gogh's profound unhappiness seems to have overshadowed the lessons, which had little effect.{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 48}} In March 1868, he abruptly returned home. He later wrote that his youth was "austere and cold, and sterile".{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let403/letter.html Letter 403]|ps= . Vincent to Theo van Gogh, Nieuw-Amsterdam, on or about Monday, 5 November 1883.}}

In July 1869, Van Gogh's uncle Cent obtained a position for him at the art dealers [[Goupil & Cie]] in The Hague.{{sfnp|Walther|Metzger|1994|loc=20}} After completing his training in 1873, he was transferred to Goupil's London branch on [[Southampton Street, London|Southampton Street]], and took lodgings at [[87 Hackford Road (Van Gogh)|87 Hackford Road]], [[Stockwell]].{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let007/letter.html Letter 007]|ps= . Vincent to Theo van Gogh, The Hague, Monday, 5 May 1873.}} This was a happy time for Van Gogh; he was successful at work and, at 20, was earning more than his father. Theo's wife, Jo van Gogh-Bonger, later remarked that this was the best year of Vincent's life. He became infatuated with his landlady's daughter, Eugénie Loyer, but she rejected him after he confessed his feelings; she was secretly engaged to a former lodger. He grew more isolated and religiously fervent. His father and uncle arranged a transfer to Paris in 1875, where he became resentful of issues such as the degree to which the art dealers commodified art, and he was dismissed a year later.{{sfnp|Tralbaut|1981|loc= 35–47}}

[[File:Cuesmes JPG001.jpg|thumb|[[Maison Van Gogh|Van Gogh's home in Cuesmes]]; while there he decided to become an artist|alt=Photo of a two-storey brick house on the left partially obscured by trees with a front lawn and with a row of trees on the right]]

In April 1876, he returned to England to take unpaid work as a [[supply teacher]] in a small [[boarding school]] in [[Ramsgate]]. When the proprietor moved to [[Isleworth]] in Middlesex, Van Gogh went with him.{{sfnp|Pomerans|1997|loc= xxvii}}{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let088/letter.html Letter 088]|ps= . Vincent to Theo van Gogh. Isleworth, Friday, 18 August 1876.}} The arrangement was not successful; he left to become a [[Methodist]] minister's assistant.{{sfnp|Tralbaut|1981|loc=47–56}} His parents had meanwhile moved to [[Etten-Leur|Etten]];{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 113}} in 1876 he returned home at Christmas for six months and took work at a bookshop in [[Dordrecht]]. He was unhappy in the position, and spent his time doodling or translating passages from the Bible into English, French, and German.{{sfnp|Callow|1990|loc=54}} He immersed himself in Christianity and became increasingly pious and monastic.{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 146–147}} According to his flatmate of the time, Paulus van Görlitz, Van Gogh ate frugally, avoiding meat.{{sfnp|Sweetman|1990|loc= 175}}

To support his religious conviction and his desire to become a pastor, in 1877, the family sent him to live with his uncle [[Johannes Stricker]], a respected theologian, in Amsterdam.{{refn|{{harvp|McQuillan|1989|loc= 26}}; {{harvp|Erickson|1998|loc= 23.}}}} Van Gogh prepared for the [[University of Amsterdam]] [[theology]] entrance examination;{{sfnp|Grant|2014|p= 9}} he failed the exam and left his uncle's house in July 1878. He undertook, but also failed, a three-month course at a [[Protestant]] missionary school in [[Laken]], near Brussels.{{sfnp|Hulsker|1990|loc=60–62, 73}}

In January 1879, he took up a post as a missionary at [[Petit Wasmes|Petit-Wasmes]]{{sfnp|Sweetman|1990|loc= 101}} in the working class, coal-mining district of [[Borinage]] in Belgium. To show support for his impoverished congregation, he gave up his comfortable lodgings at a bakery to a [[homeless]] person and moved to a small hut, where he slept on straw.{{sfnp|Fell|2015|loc=17}} His humble living conditions did not endear him to church authorities, who dismissed him for "undermining the dignity of the priesthood". He then walked the {{convert|75|km|mi}} to Brussels,{{sfnp|Callow|1990|loc=72}} returned briefly to [[Cuesmes]] in the Borinage, but he gave in to pressure from his parents to return home to Etten. He stayed there until around March 1880,{{efn|group=note|Hulsker suggests that van Gogh returned to the Borinage and then back to Etten in this period.{{sfnp|Geskó|2006|loc=48}}}} which caused concern and frustration for his parents. His father was especially frustrated and advised that his son be committed to the lunatic asylum in [[Geel]].{{sfnp|Naifeh|Smith|2011|loc= 209–210, 488–489}}{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let186/letter.html Letter 186]|ps= . Vincent to Theo van Gogh. Etten, Friday, 18 November 1881.}}{{efn|group=note|See Jan Hulsker's speech ''The Borinage Episode and the Misrepresentation of Vincent van Gogh'', Van Gogh Symposium, 10–11 May 1990.{{sfnp|Erickson|1998|loc= 67–68}}}}

Van Gogh returned to Cuesmes in August 1880, where he lodged with a miner until October.{{sfnp|Van Gogh|2009|loc=[http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let156/letter.html Letter 156]|ps= . Vincent to Theo van Gogh. Cuesmes, Friday, 20 August 1880.}} He became interested in the people and scenes around him, and he recorded them in drawings after Theo's suggestion that he take up art in earnest. He travelled to Brussels later in the year, to follow Theo's recommendation that he study with the Dutch artist [[Willem Roelofs]], who persuaded him – in spite of his dislike of formal schools of art – to attend the {{lang|fr|[[Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts]]|italic=no}}. He registered at the Académie in November 1880, where he studied anatomy and the standard rules of [[Shading|modelling]] and [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]].{{sfnp|Tralbaut|1981|loc= 67–71}}
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