Vincent Van Gogh (1853—1890)

Nobody has ever paint cornfields or sunflowers like Van Gogh. His paintings are full of colour and sunlight. Today his paintings are worth millions of pounds but in his lifetime he only sold one.

Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. He did not start painting until he was twenty-seven, ten years before he died. Before becoming a painter, he was a teacher, an art dealer and a church preacher.

In 1886 he left Holland and joined his younger brother, Theo, who was working in Paris at the time. After living there for two years, he moved to the warmer climate of Aries in the south of France. Here he painted some of his most famous pictures.

However, Van Gogh was mentally ill. During one of his fits of madness he attacked his friend, the artist Paul Gauguin. In another fit of madness, Van Gogh cut off part of his own ear. Eventually he went into a mental hospital but he did not get any better.

Finally, on Sunday 27th July 1890, in the small village of Auvers, north of Paris, Vincent Van Gogh took a gun, went into a cornfield and shot himself. When his brother Theo arrived, he said: "I hope I did it properly." Thirty-six hours later Van Gogh died in his brother's arms. His last words were 'La tristesse durera'. (The sadness will continue.)

Вопросы

1. How many paintings did Van Gogh sell in his lifetime?

2. How old was he when he started painting?

3. What jobs did he have before becoming a painter?

4. Where did he paint his most famous pictures?

5. What was wrong with him?

6. How did he die?

Задание 2. Составьте вопросы, ответами на которые будут данные предложения

Example: How much are Van Gogh's paintings worth today? - Millions of pounds.

1. In Holland.

2. In 1886.

3. To a place called Aries in the south of France.

4. On Sunday 27th July 1890.

Задание 3.Какие слова и фразы в тексте сообщают о следующем

1. what sort of things Van Gogh painted; 2. what his painting are like; 3. that he was religious; 4. what was wrong with Van Gogh; 5. how he killed himself.

Задание 4. Соедините предложения, используя союзы

1. He left Holland. Then he joined his brother, Theo. (After)

2. He arrived in Paris. He made friends with Paul Gauguin. (After)

3. He lived in Paris. Then he moved to Aries. (Before)

4. He spent a year in a mental hospital. Then he shot himself. (After)

5. He said 'La tristesse durera'. Then he died. (Before)