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Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853. Before
becoming a painter he was a teacher. He started painting
when he was twenty-seven. In 1886 he left Holland and joined
his young brother Theo, who lived in Paris. Here he painted
some of his most famous pictures. After living there for two
years he moved to the South of France, because the climate was
warmer there.
But Van Gogh was mentally ill. During one of his fits
of madness he attacked his friend, the artist Paul Gaugin.
In another fit of madness, he cut off part of his own ear.
Eventually he went into a mental hospital but he didn't get
any better. Finally, on Sunday 27th July 1890, in the small
village Vincent Van Gogh took a gun. He went into a cornfield
and shot himself. Thirty-six hours later Van Gogh died in
his brother's arms. His last words were: "I hope I did it
properly". Nobody has ever painted 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.
Questions:
1. When Van Gogh was born?
2. Was he a teacher before becoming a painter?
3. Why did he left Paris?
4. Was Van Gogh mentally ill?
5. How many paintings did he sell during lifetime?
Vocabulary:
to join — присоединяться
to cut off — отрезать
gun — ружье
sunflower — подсолнух
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