Returning to his parents' house in Etten, at the age of 27, van Gogh met and fell in love with his recently widowed cousin Cornelia Kee. Upset by her rejection and by his father's condemnation, Vincent left for The Hague and immediately moved in with a prostitute, Sien.
Supported by an allowance from his brother Theo, Vincent settled for a year in The Hague, spending days at the beach painting the sea. However, when his father discovered Vincent's relationship with Sien, he tried to have him committed. Abandoning Sien, van Gogh was on the move again, to Drenthe, and back to the grim, melancholy landscapes that had inspired his earlier paintings. With no money forcing a move back to the family in Nuenen in 1883, he again saw beauty in the lowly weavers and labourers, painting his masterpiece, Potato Eaters, in 1885, at the age of 32. But when his peasant model became pregnant, the Catholic priest banned the locals from posing for him. Impulsive and impassioned, Vincent left Holland for good.
In 1886, Vincent insisted on joining Theo in Paris, who arranged for him to become a pupil at the studio of Cormon. Although the dry, academic style was not to his taste, Vincent became friends with his lead pupil, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and was soon immersed in the twilight world of prostitutes and absinthe.
While in Paris, the Impressionists held sway and Vincent was exposed to a huge variety of influences from Paul Gauguin, Degas, Camille and Lucien Pissarro, Signac and Seurat.
His own artistic output was prolific, with 230 paintings in two years. His wandering style reached a defining moment when he discovered Japanese prints, and the use of brighter colours was to endure.
In 1888, rows with Theo led to another abrupt departure, to Arles.
In Arles, Vincent was set on a downward path. Renting four rooms in the famous Yellow House to use as a studio, he begged Gauguin to join him. The strong, bright colours of the Mediterranean gave him the confidence to experiment more boldly with colours leading to the series of sunflower paintings intended as a decoration for Gauguin's room.
Bribed by Theo's offer of money, Gauguin arrived, but the 63 days together were marked by growing tensions. Becoming ever more sexually impotent as a result of drink and mentally unstable, Vincent's thoughts turned to early death. He found inspiration in the night sky, producing the first of his paintings of stars, and immortalising The Night Caf� run by Joseph and Marie Ginoux at 30 Place Lamartine.
Van Gogh's behaviour was becoming more erratic and the two artists' rivalry more intense, and after a regular visit to the town's famous bullfights, van Gogh cut off part of his left ear as a sign of defeat like the bull. He was found in the morning, having almost bled to death, and was taken to hospital. Gauguin left the next day.
The ear incident was the final straw for the citizens of Arles, already exasperated by his drinking and sexual excesses. They signed a petition to have him sent away. Spending a year at the progressive asylum of St Remy, Vincent continued to paint at a frantic pace, diagnosed as epileptic and therefore allowed wider freedom. However, continuing mindstorms seemed to coincide with feelings of rejection, brought on first by Theo's marriage and then the birth of his child. Even the sale of his first picture to huge acclaim failed to lift him. He became desperately homesick for the gloomy Dutch landscapes.
Released from the asylum as 'cured', Vincent went to Paris before making what was to be his final home at Auvers, under the dubious care of a Dr Gachet. In the last 69 days of his life he created 80 paintings, before Theo's change of plan to visit finally sent Vincent over the edge. On 27 July 1990 he shot himself in the chest, living just long enough for Theo to reach his side. A few months later Theo was also dead from syphilis. He and Vincent are buried side-by-side in the cemetery at Auvers.