Vincent Van Gogh was one of the most famous painters in modern art. He was born March 30, 1853. He painted most of his works while he lived in a yellow house with Paul Gauguin.  Gauguin was known for his sculptures and wood cuts.  He also had very colorful paintings.  He painted a famous picture of Van Gogh.   Before Van Gogh moved to live with Paul Gauguin in Arles, he worked for an art dealer. Theo, his brother, worked for the same art dealer.

Van Gogh had epilepsy.  (For more information go to Epilepsy or F.A.Q.'s.) His epilepsy was partly caused by licking his brushes clean. He painted mostly with oil paints, so when he licked the brushes he got a lot of chemicals in his body.  He also went insane from the high winds and hot sun of Arles, France. Van Gogh was also addicted to alcohol. He had many seizures caused by epilepsy. During one of them, on December 23, 1888 he threatened to kill Paul Gauguin. The same day he cut off his ear and gave it to his girlfriend.