Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-90, Dutch postimpressionist painter. His works are perhaps better known generally than those of any other painter. The great majority were produced in 29 months of frenzied activity interspersed with epileptoid seizures and despair that finally ended in suicide. His early work, the Dutch period (1880-85), consists of dark, greenish-brown, heavily painted studies of peasants and miners, e.g., The Potato Eaters (1885; Municipal Mus., Amsterdam). After moving from the Netherlands to Paris, he met Camille Pissaro, who encouraged him to adopt a colorful palette, e.g., Père Tanguy (1887; Niarchos Coll., Paris). His work from his last months at Arles is characterized by the heavy impasto and rhythmic linear style so identified with him; it includes the incomparable series of sunflowers (1888). His last works include the swirling, climactic Starry Night (Mus. Mod. Art, N.Y.C.) and the ominously distressed Wheatfield with Crows.