Do you know the real Van Gogh?
Is a well-known painter, but also an investment genius, a painting worth 500 million, investment in 20 years to increase by 10 times, Van Gogh's "capital" is far more than this.
The last 70 days of Van Gogh's life were spent at the Raou Inn in the town of Orville.
Raou is the name of the innkeeper, who has a secular but fantasy wife and a lively and lovely daughter. Both Raou and Madame Rau had fantasized about a more ideal life, they had tried, they had tried, and finally they were left behind by life in this small hotel, living a life without surprises and surprises. Growing up in the countryside and having to host residents who couldn't pay their bills on time, Rao accepted the simple and heavy life and no longer had other ambitions. He often said that his most valuable asset was his health. He patted his stomach and said, "This is my capital!" ”
Van Gogh, the guest of the Rau Inn, was clearly a different kind of person.
So, what is Van Gogh's "capital"? What kind of person is this young painter who hastily ended his life at the age of 37? Do you know the real Van Gogh?
One / Select
A new studio has been opened downstairs in the community, which specializes in teaching children to draw. On the wall of the entrance to the studio, Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" is impressively pasted, and at the bottom of the picture is Van Gogh's famous quote - "I dream of painting, I paint my dream". The exhibition area is plastered with children's childish and enthusiastic work, and at the top of the list is a child's copy of Van Gogh's "Open-air Cafe at Night".
I talked about Van Gogh with a friend who studied oil painting, and he calmly told me that Van Gogh not only belongs to the circle of painters and the circle of art, Van Gogh is international and popular, and everyone has a different Van Gogh in their hearts. For artists, Van Gogh, it is almost familiar that it can no longer be familiar.
Nowadays, no matter what impression of Van Gogh is – poor, insane, or gifted, talented, talented, and talented, van Gogh is remembered as a painter.
However, Van Gogh was not a natural painter, nor did he choose the profession of painter from the beginning. Before picking up a paintbrush, he worked as a gallery apprentice and missionary until 1880, at the age of 27, when Van Gogh really began to practice his painting program.
From missionary to painter, such a career shift did not happen by accident. In October 1879, van Gogh's position as missionary was taken over by a new candidate who was deemed to lack the skills necessary for the profession, such as the ability to organize preparation and to speak in public. This is an objective reason for his career change. Subjectively, a sketch he saw with a priest painter may have triggered his sensitive heart and made him realize the meaning of painting. He tried to combine evangelical activities with the study of painting, but without success.
Starry Night (1889)
After losing his missionary position, Van Gogh's parents gave up all hope that Van Gogh might succeed, hoping only that he would have a job that would guarantee his basic livelihood and keep him out of danger. "To improve his life," his younger brother Theo also advised Van Gogh to choose a baker or a designer of letters and postcard heads.
He is 27 years old, untrained, with no income, and is determined to choose a new profession as a painter. He was dissatisfied with the "terrible plan" proposed by his brother Theo. He seems to have decided to embark on the path of art, and his plans for painting and art are by no means intended to make a living, not to become the designer of letterheads or the illustrators of a periodical, nor to "fix his memory." What was Van Gogh's pursuit of the art of painting? In a letter to his brother Theo in September 1888, he wrote: "In a painting, I try to tell something that soothes people's hearts like music. He moved from Borinázh to Brussels in order to study and practice painting.
Christopher Brochal said in the preface to Van Gogh's Capital that he studied the great financial investors who found that they were able to predict the profound changes that were about to take place in the world, were determined, worked tirelessly, and sometimes persisted for decades to persuade a group of clients to invest in their own projects, thus accumulating support until one day history would verify the correctness of their views. Wout van der Wien, author of Van Gogh's Capital and chancellor of the Van Gogh Institute, was surprised to find that these investors had the same visionary persistence and willpower as Van Gogh.
Unstable, incomprehensible, and stubborn, the evaluation of this future painter who has suffered repeated setbacks in his career is obviously unfriendly. At that time, Van Gogh was infamous, but stubbornly fought fiercely for the new profession of painter and boldly put it into practice, this persistence and firm will in the new career choice, is the painter Van Gogh's first "capital"?
II/ Vision
In 19th-century Europe, there were many schools of painting art, such as academics, realism, and impressionism. Realism was popular for its realistic depictions of real life, and the works of realist masters such as Gustav Courbet and Jean-François Miller were widely popular. Van Gogh has copied many of Miller's works, such as "The First Step", "The Reaper", "The Sower", "Lunch Break" and so on.
The First Step (After Miller) (1890)
However, Van Gogh did not belong to the Realist school (art history usually classifies him as Post-Impressionist), and realistic reproduction of real-life scenes is not in line with Van Gogh's understanding and pursuit of art, he wants to do more.
In the autumn of 1881, Van Gogh came to settle in The Hague, where he left the mark of the "Vincent Studio" on his paintings. This reflects Van Gogh's entrepreneurial logic: the imprint of the studio is a symbol of the brand, and it is convenient for people who buy paintings to remember the figurative labels of Van Gogh's works, and a company must do a good job, and naturally this brand effect is indispensable. From an artistic point of view, the imprint of the "Vincent Studio" also represents Van Gogh's unique painting ideas and painting style. He hopes to convey a sincere emotion through his brush and paper, so that the paintings can come alive and have vitality. It's like drawing an apple. Painting an apple that resembles a physical object is easy for many people; but to draw an apple makes people have the desire to eat, or makes people feel disgusted, worried, and at ease, or gives people a sense of abundance and temptation, making people feel the passage of time or the simplicity of life, but not many people can do it.
In the era of Van Gogh's life, the realist school of painting dominated the mainstream, and impressionism was still in its infancy. But Van Gogh was keenly aware of the beauty of impressionism's use of light and color for expression and depiction, and he learned about the Japanese painting style in Goncourt's works, and incorporated the style of Japanese ukiyo-e into his works. The stunning composition and vibrant color processing give Van Gogh's paintings a unique Van Gogh flavor. Although these paintings were not widely accepted by the market at that time, and van Gogh's paintings were sold only a few times, Van Gogh's foresight in grasping the style of his paintings laid an important foundation for future paintings to sell well.
The Bedroom (1889)
Not only Van Gogh, Van Gogh's younger brother Theo, the rising star and talented art dealer of the Paris art market at that time, also had a special love for Impressionism. Through wise deals and purchases, the Van Gogh brothers acquired paintings by Impressionist painters (including post-Impressionists) Degas, Gauguin, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec and others, whose value no one saw at the time, whereas today they are worth hundreds of millions of euros. In 2015, Gauguin's work When You Get Married sold for nearly $300 million.
Van Gogh's foresight also lies in the fact that he used the best quality paints, canvases and canvas frames to keep his paintings intact, waiting for the time to be appreciated by the world. Although in the short term, it is difficult to make a profit due to the unusually high prices of raw materials, in the medium term, this makes the colors of his works brighter and more durable than those of his contemporaries, and in the long run, this guarantees excellent durability. When the subtleties of his peers' work fade over time, Van Gogh's paintings will remain gorgeous forever. In the end, his work will be the most reliable testimony of his time.
Today, more than 130 years later, Van Gogh's vision has been tested by history.
III / Investment
Van Gogh was born in 1853 to a middle-class family in Groot-Zindert. Van Gogh's father was a priest, his father's two brothers were art dealers, and another brother was a general. Van Gogh had five siblings, with his younger brother Theo, who was four years younger, and he was the closest.
"Image of Brahtaka" (1887)
Van Gogh and Theo were brothers, friends, and business partners. In the art market, the two brothers worked together, Van Gogh was responsible for creating and developing the market, Theo provided the necessary financial support and was responsible for the sale, and the two agreed to share the loss or profit of their business together.
In February 1886, Van Gogh came to Paris, where Theo had lived. From 1886 to 1888, in Paris, the Van Gogh brothers strengthened their cooperation. Van Gogh painted, Theo sold paintings. In addition to this, they intend to set up a company that will deal in addition to van Gogh's works, but also the works of other artists. They approached as close as possible to artists in Paris, such as Toulouse Lautrec, Signac, Seurat, etc., looking for opportunities to invest. In a letter to Gauguin in October 1888, Van Gogh said: "We had a much greater discussion with the painters — we had a greater conversation with Kiyomann, the Pissarro father and son, and Seurat, whom I did not know before. These discussions are always... It is related to the material support (paint, canvas) needed to maintain the material life and creation of painters, and to maintain the part of the price that belongs to the painter at the moment when the painting is created and after it is sold. ”
In February 1888, Van Gogh left Paris and returned to Arles. Here, he initiates a new task consisting of three parts, such as planning a studio that can accommodate several artists to optimize the budget for their activities. Van Gogh rented a house in Arles, put on new furniture, wrote letters to Gauguin several times, invited Gauguin into the studio, and although Gauguin left in a hurry after only two months of working with Van Gogh, the collaboration allowed the Van Gogh brothers to own several Gauguin works.
Self-Portrait After Cutting Off An Ear (1889)
Unbridled / diligent
Van Gogh was a diligent painter. He devoted himself to his work day and night, and in more than 10 years, he created about 870 oil paintings and more than 1,000 sketches. In the last 70 days of his life, he created more than 80 works, one or two almost every day. Van Gogh's prolific prolific is rare in the world.
The Orchard with Flowers (1888)
While accomplishing his artistic career, Van Gogh also read extensively. A statistical survey by the Shanghai People's Publishing House found that in the letters left by Van Gogh, he talked about more than 500 works, involving myths, poems, novels, dramas, histories, biographies, etc., and talked about more than 200 writers, from Homer in ancient Greece to Zola and Maupassant, who were his contemporaries. In order to improve his art, Van Gogh read the biographies of artists he admired, including Miller, Delacroix, Zola, Rembrandt, etc.; read the theory of color and delved into Japanese art; and re-read The Introduction to Painting at the Prosvania Saint-Rémy Sanatorium.
In his short life, Van Gogh also left us with a large number of letters. From 1872 to 1890, Van Gogh wrote 819 letters to family, friends and artists. The vast majority of these letters were addressed to his brother Theo. In his letter, he expressed his deep feelings for his brother, his dreams and disappointments, friendships and disputes, and his struggle with illness. In addition to writing, he often accompanied his own manuscripts in his letters to his brother Theo.
In the eyes of many people, Van Gogh's achievements came from his talent, he was originally a genius painter, or a genius madman. But in Van Gogh's view, he had to work hard to develop his painting talent and constantly improve his talent. A long article in praise of Van Gogh's work published in the French Courier reads: In the early 1890s, when Van Gogh was alive, it was clear that his honor came not from his talent, but from his diligent and patient construction, and this conscious, intelligent construction of the work as a whole manifested the value of his work as depth, strength and consistency.
Belvedere Overlooking Montmartre (1887)
Woo / Success
Van Gogh did not achieve financial success in his lifetime, as Monet did, and he has always lived on the help of his family, especially his younger brother Theo. Success in art critics and the public was definitely not van Gogh's direct goal, and his work was already well recognized before his death.
In January 1890, the young critic G. Albert Orière published a 17-page article in the magazine The Courier of France. In this essay, Oril describes Van Gogh as the well-deserved successor of the 17th-century Dutch master of painting, Rembrandt. In Orill's pen, Van Gogh's art was elevated to heights that he seemed impossible to reach two years earlier. Oril wasn't the first to realize the value of Van Gogh's paintings; Montmartre, the heart of the art avant-garde, was ready to embrace the great painter who would be sung by the world in later generations.
In March 1890, Theo wrote to Van Gogh: "I did not return to the Independent Artists' Association, but Pissarro, who always went there, told me that you had really succeeded among artists. ”
Van Gogh was eager for success, and in a letter to Theo in August 1888, he wrote: "If success comes, it will be good, and it is not a bad thing that our lives are more generous." But Van Gogh was also afraid of success, and he was afraid of success before his career was profitable. Premature recognition of his success will hinder him from continuing to improve. Or in this letter, he continues: "'Do you think an artist with talent and reputation can be done once and for all?'" On the contrary, he ended up producing unsatisfactory works. ...... Did you know that fireflies in Brazil are so famous for being shiny that ladies pin them to their hair at night with pins? Honor is beautiful, but it's like a pin to an artist to a firefly. ”
Van Gogh may have died with this worry and fear. During van Gogh's lifetime, he could not even make a basic living by painting. It is lamentable that shortly after the death of the two brothers, Van Gogh's works and the investment of the Van Gogh brothers were exchanged for rich returns, and continue to this day.
After Theo's death, Theo's wife, Joanna Bunge, became the heir to these estates, and she spared no effort to realize the realization and substantial appreciation of the artwork with incredible success. Through her operation, the van Gogh brothers' artworks have increased by 10 times in 20 years. In 1987, two of Van Gogh's paintings, Sunflowers and Irises, were sold for $38.79 million (equivalent to the current 250 million yuan) and $53.9 million (equivalent to about 350 million yuan today). In 1990, "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" sold for $82.5 million (equivalent to the current more than 530 million yuan), a price that broke the world record at the time.
Joanna Bunger has preserved Van Gogh's fine paintings, which are today the town hall of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Every year, nearly 2 million art lovers flock to visit and leave with souvenirs purchased on the spot.
Due to the rush of time, their company had not been registered until the van Gogh brothers died, but this company was indeed in preparation between 1886 and 1890. Today, Brothers Van Gogh has become a successful cultural industry. In 2016, the industry's turnover reached billions.
——" Van Gogh's Capital - Why the Van Gogh Brothers Are More Powerful Than Buffett" After reading
Author: Liu Yaping
"Van Gogh's Capital - Why the Van Gogh Brothers Are More Powerful Than Buffett"
Van Gogh's capital was ¥41 to buy