Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose bold colors and emotional intensity influenced modern art, though he achieved little commercial success and struggled with mental illness during his lifetime.
Van Gogh began painting seriously only in his late twenties, producing over 2,000 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, in just over a decade before his death.
He struggled with mental health throughout his life and was hospitalized voluntarily at times, famously severing part of his own ear during a psychiatric crisis in 1888, yet continued to paint prolifically, including some of his most celebrated works, such as The Starry Night.
Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime and died in 1890 at age 37 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His work was largely championed posthumously by his sister-in-law, and he is now considered one of the most influential painters in Western art history.