In the winter of 1878, Bio states that Van Gogh, the preacher, volunteered to move to an impoverished coal mine in the south of Belgium, a place where preachers were usually sent as punishment. He preached and ministered to the sick, and also drew pictures of the miners and their families, who called him “Christ of the Coal Mines.”
The evangelical committees were not as pleased. They disagreed with van Gogh’s lifestyle, which had begun to take on a tone of martyrdom. They refused to renew van Gogh’s contract, and he was forced to find another occupation, according to Bio.
Van Gogh had a catastrophic love life. He was attracted to women in trouble, thinking he could help them. His cousin, Kate, was recently widowed, and when van Gogh fell in love with her, she was repulsed and fled to her home in Amsterdam. He then moved to The Hague and fell in love with Clasina Maria Hoornik, an alcoholic prostitute. She became his companion, mistress and model., according to Bio.com
When Hoornik went back to prostitution, Van Gogh became utterly depressed. In 1882, his family threatened to cut off his money unless he left Hoornik and The Hague. Van Gogh left in mid-September of that year to travel to Drenthe, a somewhat desolate district in the Netherlands. For the next six weeks, he lived a nomadic life, moving throughout the region while drawing and painting the landscape and its people, Bio states.
Bio states that Van Gogh sold just one painting, The Red Vineyard, during his lifetime. He sold it to his brother Theo. Van Gogh became famous only after his death. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
On July 29, 1890, Van Gogh died in the arms of his brother, Theo. He was 37 years old.
Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent Van Gogh sold for $82.5 million in 1990.
For more information about Van Gogh click here: Bio.com.