Theo van Gogh
Theo van Gogh in 1888
Born	Theodorus van Gogh 1 May 1857(1857-05-01) Groot-Zundert, Netherlands
Died	25 January 1891 (aged 33) Utrecht, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation	Art dealer
Known for	Correspondence with his brother Vincent van Gogh

Theodorus "Theo" van Gogh (1 May, 1857 – 25 January 1891) was a successful art dealer. He was the younger brother of Vincent van Gogh, and Theo's unfailing financial support allowed his brother to devote himself entirely to painting. Theo died at the age of 33, several months after Vincent died at the age of 37.

[edit] Biography

Theodorus "Theo" van Gogh was born on 1 May 1857 in the village Groot-Zundert in the province of Brabant, Netherlands. He was the son of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. His elder brother was Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), who later became a famous painter.

[edit] Business

Vincent worked for some years at the Dutch (The Hague) office of the Parisian art dealers Goupil & Cie, and Theo joined the Brussels office on 1 January 1873 as their youngest employee. After Vincent was transferred to the London office, Theo moved to the office in The Hague, where he developed into a successful art dealer. By 1884, he was transferred to the Paris main office. Starting in the winter of 1880–1881, he sent painting materials as well as monthly financial support to Vincent, who was living back in the Netherlands.

[edit] Private life

In Paris, Theo met Andries Bonger and his sister Johanna, whom he married in Amsterdam on 17 April 1889. The couple lived in Paris, where on 31 January 1890 their son Vincent Willem was born. On 8 June, the family visited Vincent, who was living near Paris in Auvers-sur-Oise. Vincent died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds in July 1890 at the age of 37 and Theo died in January 1891 at the age of 33, apparently of dementia paralytica, the last stage of syphilis.^[1]

Theo van Gogh's great-grandson, also named Theo van Gogh, was a film director, famous for his controversial criticism of Islam. He was murdered by a Dutch-Moroccan in 2004, at the age of 47. ^[2]

[edit] Brothers

Theo admired his elder brother, Vincent Van Gogh, for his whole life. But communicating with him proved to be difficult, even before Vincent opted to follow his artistic vocation. The communication between both brothers suffered from diverging definitions of standards, and it was evidently Theo who kept on writing letters. Therefore, mostly Vincent's answers survived and little of Theo's input. Theo was often concerned about Vincent's mental condition and he was amongst the few who understood his brother.

[edit] Dealer and artist

Theo van Gogh in 1872

Theo was instrumental in the popularity of Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Edgar Degas by persuading his employers, Goupil & Cie, to exhibit and buy their works.^[3] On demand only, Theo seems to have shown Vincent's paintings, but evidently, a loyal apprentice of Goupil & Cie, he never sold one of them.

The two brothers maintained an intensive correspondence with Theo often encouraging his depressed brother. These letters have been collected and published into books, as revealing of the artist's mind and nature.

The relationship between the two brothers was the subject of the movie Vincent & Theo (1990), directed by Robert Altman.

In 1886, he invited Vincent to come and live with him, and from March of that year they shared a house in Montmartre. Theo introduced Vincent to Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Rousseau, Camille Pissarro and Georges Seurat, and in 1888 he persuaded Gauguin to join Vincent, who had moved to Arles in the meantime.

[edit] External links

• John Lichfield, Van Gogh's little brother goes on show, 1999, The Independent, retrieved 27 January 2009

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Theo van Gogh (art dealer)

• Anonymous (initialled "H.H.H." and "W.F.d.C.H."): Van Gogh, 's-Gravenhage, Nederland's Patriciaat 50, 1964, pp. 171–183.
• Hulsker, Jan: Vincent and Theo van Gogh: A Dual Biography, Ann Arbor, Fuller Publications, 1990. ISBN 0-940537-05-2.
• Jansen, Leo, and Jan Robert: Kort geluk. De briefwisseling tussen Theo van Gogh en Jo Bonger, Waanders, Zwolle 1999. ISBN 90-400-9353-9 (also available in English).
• Rewald, John: Theo van Gogh, Goupil, and the Impressionists, Gazette des Beaux-Arts, January & February 1973, pp. 1–107; reprinted in Rewald, John: Studies in Post-Impressionism, Thames and Hudson, 1986, pp. 7–115 (no ISBN).
• Stolwijk, Chris, & Thomson, Richard: Theo van Gogh 1857–1891: Art dealer, collector and brother of Vincent, Waanders, Zwolle 1999. ISBN 90-400-9363-6.

v • d • e Vincent van Gogh General Biography · Chronology · Medical condition · Posthumous fame · Cultural depictions · List of works · Post-Impressionism · Family Theo van Gogh · Wil van Gogh · Johanna van Gogh-Bonger · Andries Bonger · Theo van Gogh (film director) · Anton Mauve Friends Anthon van Rappard · Paul Gachet · Paul Gauguin · Émile Bernard · John Peter Russell · Eugène Boch · Anna Boch Groups of works Self-Portraits · Portraits · Flowering Orchards · The Décoration for the Yellow House · The Roulin Family · The Wheat Field · Copies after Millet, and others · Display at Les XX, 1890 · Auvers size 30 canvases · Auvers Double-squares and Squares Paintings The Potato Eaters · Sunflowers · The Night Café · The Yellow House · Cafe Terrace at Night · Starry Night Over the Rhone · The Bedroom · L'Arlésienne · The Red Vineyard · Les Arènes · View of Arles, Flowering Orchards · Ivy · The Starry Night · At Eternity's Gate · Irises · Portrait of Dr. Gachet · The Church at Auvers · Wheatfield with Crows · Daubigny's Garden · Thatched Cottages by a Hill · White House at Night Other works Drawings and water-colours · Prints Public collections Van Gogh Museum · Kröller-Müller Museum · Musée d'Orsay Wikimedia  van Gogh at Wiktionary ·  van Gogh at Wikibooks ·  van Gogh at Wikiquote ·  van Gogh at Wikisource ·  van Gogh at Commons ·  van Gogh at Wikinews