Following in Van Gogh's footsteps: 10 places where he lived

On July 29 it willbe 125 Schildersbedrijf Groningen years since Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh shot himself inFrance. A whole host of events are being organised to coincide with the commemorations, fromexhibitions to bike tours. Here's a list of 10 places associated with the Dutch master, who wasunappreciated in his lifetime but is now considered one of the greatest painters who ever lived.

1 Zundert (1853)

Vincent was born in Zundert, in the province of Noord-Brabant. His father, Theodorus van Gogh, wasa protestant minister who although well-liked was not considered a very inspirational preacher.Vincent was to follow briefly and disastrously in his father's footsteps. The bleak Noord-Brabantscenery appeared in much of his work.

2 Tilburg (1866)

The Rijks-HBS was situated in the former palace ofKing Willem II in Tilburg. This is where the 13-yea--old Vincent had his first drawing lessons. One of hisearliest drawings was of two farmers leaning on theirspades and it's a theme he would repeat many times.The school is now an arts centre. Vincent spent twoyears in Tilburg. Why he had to go back home isunclear but what is certain is that his time in Tilburg

signalled the end of his formal education.

3 The Hague (1869)

When he was 16, Vincent went to work for his art dealer uncle Vincent ('Uncle Cent') at Goupil andCompany in The Hague. His job would have consisted of packing up the fine art reproductionsGoupil specialised in. In later years Vincent would return to The Hague to do several drawings of thetown commissioned by his artist cousin and tutor Anton Mauve, a famous painter at the time. TheHague was also the place where Vincent and his brother Theo started their correspondence.

4 London (1873)

At 20, Vincent was sent to England to work for Goupil's London branch. Like Charles Dickens, whosecompassion for the poor he came to share, he went on prodigious walks. Van Gogh didn't have anydefinite plans to take up painting as a profession at this time but he did make several drawings ofLondon landmarks, such as Westminster Bridge. A painting by the 17th century landscape artistMeindert Hobbema, The Lane Schildersbedrijf Groningen at Middelharnis, which had been in thepossession of the National Gallery since 1871 and reproductions of which he certainly handled atGoupil's, is thought to have been the inspiration behind Van Gogh's Populierenlaan (1884). You canfollow a Van Gogh walk around his London haunts.

5 Borinage (1878)

Vincent was fired from his job at Goupil's - why exactly is not known but one can imagine Vincentbeing pretty intense company. This was certainly the impression he left in the Borinage, a poormining district in Belgium, where Vincent ended up as a lay preacher after an attempt to studytheology in Amsterdam came to nought. He involved himself in the lives of the poor, gave away allhis belongings and even went down the mine. But no matter how hard he tried, the people of theBorinage didn't take to him. The church authorities grew uneasy at his zeal - people called him 'theChrist of the coal mine' - and didn't renew his contract. Theo, the recipient of his brother's drawingsof the bleak, poverty-stricken Borinage, advised him to take up art as a profession.

6 Nuenen (1883)

After a couple of detours - and a love affair with a prostitute whose 'rotten character' preacherVincent had hopes of reforming - he went to stay with his long-suffering parents who had moved toNuenen, also in Noord-Brabant. Here he painted his famous Aardappeleters (1885), a portrait of afamily of farmers eating a dish of boiled potatoes. Vincent made over 500 paintings and drawings inNuenen, mostly of farming subjects. Nuenen has a museum dedicated to the painter.

7 Paris (1886)

Theo, whose career at Goupil's was much more successful than Vincent's, had moved to Paris towork at the company's main branch. He invited his brother over and it was in Paris that Vincentdiscovered colour and developed his typical, short brush stroke style. He met with other painters,notably Paul Gauguin. His subjects were the streets and taverns of the city and, with Vincent failingto sell any of his work and with the cost of models, frequently himself.

8 Arles (1888)

The countryside beckoned and Vincent travelled south, to Arles in the Province. He wanted to set upan artists' colony there and rented a couple of rooms for the purpose in the Yellow House. In theevent only Gauguin joined him for what turned out to be two productive if tempestuous months.Vincent loved the light and the colours of the south and he painted some of his most beautifulcanvases there. But all was not well and after a bust-up with Gauguin, in which either Vincent cut offa bit of his ear or Gauguin lopped it off with a sabre, it became clear that his mental health wasdeteriorating. In 1889 he entered the asylum at Saint-Rémy- de-Provence.

9 Asylum: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (1889)

Vincent stayed in the asylum for a year. Periods of sanity and confusion alternated - at one point hewas only allowed to draw because he was eating his oil paints - and Vincent produced some 150works here.

10 Auvers-sur-Oise 1890

In the final year of his life Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise to be closer to his brother. It was aperiod of frantic activity: he did a painting a day. One of the most famous paintings of this period is aportrait of physician and friend Dr Paul Gachet. The cornfield paintings he did were meant to convey'sadness and extreme desolation' he wrote to his brother, but also showed 'how healthy and good itis to be in the country'. But in July 1890 Vincent went into a cornfield and shot himself in the chest.He died two days later.