His Early Days

Vincent van Gogh was the second-born child in a family that eventually included six children. He was born in 1853 after his parents had a still-born child before his birth. Van Gogh played many roles in his life; he was an apprentice art dealer, a jilted lover, an English teacher, a preacher, a theology student, a missionary, etc. He finally began seriously considering art as the aim of his life. He was such a difficult personality that he found it hard to keep friends for long.

Jo van Gogh Bonger, The Woman Who Made Vincent van Gogh

The name of Vincent van Gogh is now a household name all over the world. His name is synonymous with color, brush strokes, paints and paintings. When one thinks, speaks and sees a painting, van Gogh is the first name that crops up in one’s mind. But it is a sad story that van Gogh painted around 400 paintings during his lifetime. It is even sadder to know that he could sell only one painting before his death in 1890 and there was only one article published about him during his lifetime though he had exhibited a couple of exhibitions.

The Woman Behind van Gogh’s Fame

Vincent van Gogh became highly popular posthumously and his paintings started selling for millions and millions of dollars several years after his death. It is both exciting and exhilarating to know that Vincent owes his fame and the abnormal increase in the value of his painting to a woman named Jo van Gogh-Bonger. The story behind the scene that has found little mention in the public space is as interesting and heart-warming as the story of Vincent van Gogh itself. The story had several characters in different roles that finally made the artist find his real place in the history of paintings. The story of Vincent van Gogh did not end with him in his death. It is a lot more than that. It is about the power of creativity and the indefatigable human spirit to achieve what one thinks is right.

Struggling Life

Vincent van Gogh always struggled in his life and was almost penniless until his last breath. Theo van Gogh was the third oldest surviving child of van Gogh’s parents. Besides being van Gogh’s younger brother, he also played the role of a true friend and confidant. Theo was a soulful, conscientious and steady person. He became the youngest employee for an art dealer, Goupil & Cie when he was only16 years old. Recognising his talent and ability, the company shifted Theo van Gogh first to their London office and then to their office at Hague to assume higher responsibilities there. Finally, Theo became the head of the Company’s main office in Paris when he was just 27.

Theo, A Helpful and Devoted Brother

Theo van Gogh was instrumental in introducing Dutch art to the rest of the European public. Simultaneously, he was also making his best efforts to promote his brother, van Gogh’s paintings. While Theo succeeded in his former job, he failed to sell van Gogh’s paintings or help in popularising his paintings. As a result, van Gogh could sell only one painting during his lifetime. But Theo helped his brother in every other way; he kept sending him money, providing him with art supplies and arranging his accommodation. While Vincent did not keep any of Theo’s letters, Theo promptly kept every piece of the correspondence, in all about 651, that he received from his elder brother. One other important event that happened to Theo that would shape the future of van Gogh’s paintings was that he met Andries Bonger, an employee in a trading firm and the brother of a highly tenacious lady called Johanna Bonger.

Johanna Bonger, ‘Jo’, a Practical Girl

Johanna Boger was the fifth of her parents’ ten children and Andries Bonger was her elder brother. She was most cheerful and committed in her childhood. She was also an idealist and never hesitated to work arduously for what she aimed for. As her parents could not afford to send her for university education, Jo learned to play piano and continued her training in Haarlem where she became an English teacher. After a brief stint as a translator in London, she went on to work at a Girl’s Academy back home. It was through her brother Andries Bonger that she met Theo van Gogh in 1885. After meeting his friend, Andries, at the latter’s place at his request, Theo wrote to his sister to help him in becoming acquainted with Jo as he was hopelessly in love with her. When Theo bared his chest before Jo, Jo was initially reluctant and finally refused to accept the proposal.

Jo’s refusal of Theo’s Proposal

Though disheartened in the beginning, Theo returned to Paris and kept writing to Jo regularly. Theo also took the opportunity to write to her about his brother Vincent and the close bond between him and his elder brother. With van Gogh moving to Paris later in that year, Theo started to follow much of the bohemian lifestyle of his elder brother, which his friend Andries disapproved of. This resulted in the spirit of their friendship dissipating gradually. When her newfound relationship did not progress, Jo was uncertain about the direction that her life should take. She fell into melancholy and fell ill briefly as a consequence. Meanwhile, when her brother’s marriage turned out to be different from all he had hoped for, Jo wanted to cheer him up. She moved to Paris at the end of 1888 in order to give herself a change of scenery.

Jo’s Marriage with Theo, Theo’s Death, van Gogh’s Legacy

After getting along together for about two years, Theo and Jo finally got married in 1889 and left for Paris. Theo gave her first lessons in art and about the basics of dealing in art. He was also busy helping the new generation of artists. He was playing his bit in helping the world know the art better. They had a son out of their wedlock, whom Theo chose to name after his elder brother and named him ‘Vincent’ Willem. The saga of Theo and Jo’s happiness did not last long. When Vincent van Gogh died in 1890, Theo managed to arrive just in time to see his brother pass. It was a terrible experience for Theo and he never recovered from the shock. By the end of the following Jan 1891, Theo also died, leaving his wife Jo, a son and an apartment full of Vincent’s works, which Theo could never sell and nobody ever wanted. There were nearly 400 paintings and several hundred drawings.

Jo Left With Theo’s Mission

Jo was always aware that Theo’s mission in life was to popularise his brother, Vincent’s art in the art world. After Theo’s death, Jo moved to the Netherlands with her son and opened a boarding to support herself and her son. She was clueless about what she could do with the legacy her husband had left her and his mission to put Vincent’s art out into the world. She could not even decide where to hang those paintings. Historians say that she hung the now-famous painting ‘Potato Eaters‘ above the fireplace and she kept three renditions of van Gogh’s ‘Orchards in Blossom‘ in her own room. Jo then realised that what she needed was an art education of which she had made a beginning with her husband, Theo, before his death. This would help her figure out how best she could present those precious paintings in a way that people could appreciate.

The Role Of van Gogh’s Letters

Jo was always jealous in pursuit of her aim. She realised that study of art and gaining deeper knowledge about it was the only way that she could convince the outside world to understand the value of the paintings. She started off in this direction by reading journals, books of art critics on art and paintings, biographies of masters, etc. She also began reading the stack of 651 van Gogh’s letters that he had written to his brother Theo Gogh. Jo found these van Gogh’s letters engrossingly interesting and full of details as he wrote about the intricacies of the art of painting and the techniques that he had experimented with while he painted. Now she could finally see what everybody had missed out before and the key to appreciating and understanding Vincent’s art. She realised that paintings and letters had to go together to make the knowledge about an artwork complete. Now Jo could embark on the future course of her action in pursuit of her mission.

Art Critic Jan Veth’s Help

Jan Veth, her friend and art critic, believed that individual expression in art was more important than following academic guidelines. Initially, he was not keen enough even to take a good look at the paintings, let alone appreciate them and judge their values. When Jo persisted in her efforts to convince him and failed, she brought him all the letters that van Gogh had written to his brother and asked Jan Veth to read them. Jo went on urging him relentlessly to read the letters, Jan Veth finally gave in and started reading the letters, though half-heartedly in the beginning. A miracle happened when Jan Veth finally understood the artistic importance of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings and wrote a favourable criticism about van Gogh’s works. Soon Veth was showing Vincent’s paintings in galleries and, as a result, people all over Europe started buying them. Jo sent the paintings to over 100 shows, sent them on loan and hung them next to other works on sale at any given show. Sometimes, she sent many works to shows but played smart by stipulating that some of them were not for sale, knowing well that the trick would increase their value in the people’s eyes.

Jo van Gogh-Bnger organised the largest exhibition of van’s Gogh works consisting of 484 works at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 15 years after Vincent van Gogh’s death. She managed everything herself, from renting the galleries, organizing the space, deciding the works to be on display, the exact place in the gallery where they hung, the printing of posters, making a list of the visiting dignitaries, etc. People came from all over Europe and after the exhibition, the value of Vincent’s paintings soared in the following months. Then everybody felt that they knew the Painter Vincent van Gogh intimately and his struggle to bring the beauty and meaning of his art to the world. Finally, one of the famous painters, who would have otherwise faded silently into the dark alleys of history, became the epicentre of public glare and earned his pride of place in the art world, thanks to the stubborn faith and unflinching efforts of a lady.