Although Vincent van Gogh eventually would become the most recognizable name in nineteenth century art, he didn't always seem destined for life as a painter.

In addition to his better known oil paintings, Vincent van Gogh produced nearly 150 watercolor paintings during his life.

Similar to his drawings, Van Gogh often did watercolors as studies before doing an oil painting or as practice. Although his watercolors are not as well know as his paintings,

Son of a pastor, Vincent Van Gogh was born on March, 30th 1853 in Groot-Zundert, a small Dutch village near Breda, Holland. He spent much of his childhood sketching outdoors.

After finishing school, Vincent entered the family art dealership. However he neglected his work and missed meetings with clients. Hoping he would take more of an interest in his work, his Uncle sent him to the Paris office. But Van Gogh’s interest was in the galleries and museums not his work so he got fired.

Vincent spent a few years as a teacher then decided to become a preacher like his father. However he spent more time drawing and reading then studying for his seminary exam so he was not accepted. Although he didn't complete his learning, he requested to be sent to one of the most inhospitable and impoverished regions in western Europe, the coalmining district of The Borinage, Belgium.

Vincent ended up losing his job as a clergyman but decided to stay in the area and document the lifestyles of the poverty stricken coalminers and their families. During this time Vincent realized that he wanted to become an artist.

After a year, Van Gogh moves to Brussels to farther his art career. He is supported financially by his brother Theo. Theo would go on to be Vincent’s financial support for the better part of his adult life. After struggling with failed relationships and the death of his father, Van Gogh moves to Paris to live with his brother Theo and his family uninvited.

Paris was the center of the art world at that time. Van Gogh’s work is influenced by a group of French painters called the Impressionists. The Impressionists focused more on effects of light and color in their works then anything else.

Another break through in painting occurred during this time and was called “En plein air” which means “in the open air”. Instead of doing sketches of a landscape then going back to the studio to complete a painting artists would take an easel, and their paints with them and complete the painting on site.

With van Gogh’s brother Theo working as an art dealer in Paris, Vincent got to see works done by all of the famous Impressionist painters.

Claude Monet was the most famous of the Impressionists. His most famous painting is called Waterlilies.

Edgar Degas was famous for his depiction of dancers and ballerinas. American Impressionist Mary Cassatt was known for her depiction of children.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir liked to show people at social gatherings having a good time.

Camille Pissarro was the only artist to have shown his work at all eight Paris Impressionist exhibitions, from 1874 to 1886.

Edouard Manet is famous for his controversial painting “The Luncheon on the Grass.”

Georges Seurat became famous for inventing a painting style called Pointillism where tiny dots of color are used and the eye finishes the painting by blending the colors together.

Post Impressionist Paul Cezanne was famous for his Still Lifes.

Along with the Impressionist, Van Gogh was also greatly influenced by Japanese artwork during this time.

Van Gogh’s painting style became very recognizable using bright colors and thick swirling brush strokes. This is a close up of his famous painting Starry Night.

After a dispute with his Brother, Van Gogh decided to leave Paris in February 1888 and move to Arles, France where he had heard the landscape was full of fields, orchards, gardens and wonderful things to paint.

Vincent moved into a small house and tried to follow a life long dream of setting up an artists colony. A place where artists could live and work together and share ideas and techniques. He invited a painter he had met in Paris to move in, Paul Gauguin.

Gauguin accepted Vincent’s invite however both artists viewed themselves as the mentor with the other being the student. They soon became very competitive and began to fight.

During this time Vincent’s health began to take a turn for the worse. He began to have epileptic seizures and his mental state was becoming more and more volatile.

The situation came to a head the night of Dec , after Van Gogh and Gauguin had a heated argument, Gauguin left the house to find Vincent following him with a razor in his hand. After losing Van Gogh, Gauguin spent the night in a hotel. When he returned to the Yellow House the next morning a crowd informed him that Van Gogh had cut off his ear and given it to a woman named Rachel at a local brothel. While Vincent was at the town hospital, Gauguin packed his things, leaving Arles never to return.

Gauguin would later become famous for his paintings that he made while living in Tahiti focusing on Tahitian life.

Vincent recovered from his ear injury however his fits gradually became worse. In one he episode on Feb. 7, 1889, Van Gogh thought that someone was trying to poison him. The towns people became concerned of his mental state and petitioned to have him committed to the Saint- Paul-de-Mausole asylum. Van Gogh continued to paint through this time.

He did not like living in the asylum and felt very confined. As his condition improved he was allowed to begin painting again.

As the weeks passed, Vincent's mental well-being remained stable and he was allowed to resume painting. The staff was encouraged by Van Gogh's progress and in mid-June Van Gogh produced his best known work: Starry Night.

Vincent’s health continued to be up and down so he left the asylum and moved back to Paris to live with Theo and his family and be put under the care of Dr. Gachet. Van Gogh’s portrait of Dr. Gachet sold at $82,500,000 in 1990 making it the #7 most expensive painting of all time.

In the spring of 1890, Van Gogh suffered a severe seizure that left him afraid to go outside, taking away from him his most favorite thing to do. On the evening of July 27, 1890, Van Gogh packed up his paints and went into the fields to paint, however this time upon opening his paint case, he pulled out a gun and shot himself in the chest.

Two days later, with his brother Theo at his side Vincent died. His Brother would die six month later and be buried beside Vincent. Theo’s wife requested that a sprig of ivy from Dr. Gachet's garden be planted among the grave stones. That same ivy carpets Vincent and Theo's grave site to this day.

Van Gogh only sold 1 painting during his lifetime, The Red Vineyard. It was sold to a friend of Van Goghs, fellow artist Anna Boch for 400 Belgian Francs ($418.00).

Irises by Vincent Van Gogh is the 7 th most expensive painting ever to be sold at $53,900,000 in 1987.

21 Portrait de l'Artiste sans Barbe $71.5 Million Portrait of Dr. Gachet $82.5 Million Portrait of Joseph Roulin $58 Million Plus Irises $82.5 Million A Wheatfield with Cypresses $57 Million 1993 Van Gogh currently has five paintings in the top 26 of the world’s most expensive paintings ever sold.

Paul Gauguin’s Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) is currently the most expensive painting ever sold. It was sold in February 2015 for $300,000,000.