Vincent Van Gogh Exhibition课文原文

The Vincent Van Gogh exhibition
Vincent Van Gogh is probably the world famous painter.Many people wonder if he deserves such a reputation.Certainly,he was not a success in his lifetime.Although he produced more than 800 paintings,he sold only one,for about US $80.No gallery showed his work during his life.Few people may have even heard of him.His fame developed slowly after his death in 1890,but it has never stop growing.One hundred years later,in 1990,a Japanese businessman paid US $82 million for one of his works—a world record.
He was born in the Netherlands in 1853.As a young man,he tried many different jobs.He worked in an art dealer’s company,but he must have disliked it,because he left.He went to England and became a language teacher.Then,looking for a deeper purpose in life,he worked as a missionary among the poor in Belgium,but he quarrelled with his superiors and abandoned that career as well.Finally,he decided to become a painter.
For the rest of his life,he depended on the financial support of his brother Theo,the only person who believed in his ability.For ten years,from 1880 to 1890,Van Gogh produced his best paintings,until,sadly,he took his own life.
It would be easy to say that he was mad.He had difficulty getting along with people,often arguing with them.After one quarrel,in late 1888,he was so upset that he cut off part of his own ear and gave it to a young girl.Later,from 1889 to 1890,he spent a year in a mental hospital.Yet,for most of his life he was completely sane.We know this because he wrote hundreds of letters to Theo expressing his idea and his work,and these letters show the clarity of his thinking.
Does he deserve the fame he now possesses?Certainly.I admire his work tremendously.His paintings are realistic,not abstract.At the same time,they are not like photographs.The bright colours and thick strokes of his paintings make the strong feelings inside him visible.Even when his subjects are flowers,trees of the sky,his paintings are full of powerful,honest emotions,emotions which finally killed him.
We are undoubtedly lucky to have the chance to view these masterpieces.Van Gogh exhibitions are very rare.This is the cultural event of the decade.You may have to spend hours in the queue,but do not miss this chance—his paintings might not come this way again for many years.