where did Van Gogh learn to draw?

Question

Does anybody know what influences Van Gogh had, and possibly what school or teachers he had who may have influenced his drawing style...It seems so distinct. I'm not just talking about how he simplified shapes, I am also talking about his figurative handling of form.

I always thought he got into an art school but just never completed the program.

Answer 1

From what I remember, he was pretty much self taught. He spent some time as a parson in some horrible industrial part of Belgium, I think, and took up drawing as a way of connecting more with his congregation. Look at his early works such as 'The Potato Eaters' and you'll see what I mean.

He admired the impressionists, but his work is post-impressionist. He was influenced, at some time by his friend Gaugin, but in the end they fell out and Guagin went to Tahiti to paint nudes. Any way, he went to Paris a couple of times to have a look at the impressionists and took his inspiration from there.

Part of why his work is so celebrated, is the fact you can't teach someone to paint like that - he had to be self-taught!

Answer 2

No-one here would have known Van Gogh, so no anecdotes. If you get a good biography from your local public library, it should include stories about his and his brother's childhoods, his earlier life, his relationships with other artists, and his sad ending. When I was young (in the 50s) I went to a school a few yards away from the house where he lived in South London, working for his art dealer brother in central London, but it was just a post-war slum then. Only a few years ago someone discovered a sketch of the outside of the house and identified it. So I might have trodden on the same pavement as him, but more than half a century later. That's a very loose 'anecdote'. They have put a blue plaque up now, but I've never been back to see it.

Answer 3

Van Gogh was self-taught. He was unable to get into art school. I went to school with a woman who was writing her Master's thesis on her discovery that during the time Van Gogh was working in France there were some Asian art shows in the same place. Her theory was that he was influenced by them. She was doing a very good job of demonstrating the Asian influences in his art. I can hardly wait for her to publish her theories.
My figure painting professor told me once that Van Gogh's style of painting was like trying to draw with paint. Both these ideas are enlightening, don't you think?

Answer 4

i think he was self taught mostly...he didnot play well with others.