Theo van Gogh (art dealer) in the context of "Auvers-sur-Oise"

Vincent Willem van Gogh (Dutch: [ˈvɪnsɛnt ˈʋɪləɱ vɑŋ ˈɣɔx] ; 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. His oeuvre includes landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, most of which are characterised by bold colours and dramatic brushwork that contributed to the rise of expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's work was only beginning to gain critical attention before his death from suicide at age 37. During his lifetime, only one of Van Gogh's paintings, The Red Vineyard, was sold.

Born into an upper-middle-class family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet and thoughtful, but showed signs of mental instability. As a young man, he worked as an art dealer, often travelling, but became depressed after he was transferred to London. He turned to religion and spent time as a missionary in southern Belgium. Later he drifted into ill-health and solitude. He was keenly aware of modernist trends in art and, while back with his parents, took up painting in 1881. His younger brother, Theo, supported him financially, and the two of them maintained a long correspondence.

Lilac Bush (catalogue number : F 579, JH 1692) is a May 1889 oil on canvas painting by Vincent van Gogh, produced during his stay in Saint-Rémy. It is now in the Hermitage Museum.The artist began painting almost as soon as he had arrived at the psychiatric hospital of Saint-Paul de Mausole in Saint-Rémy. Among his first subjects were the irises and lilac bush in the hospital garden, mentioned in a letter written to his brother Theo and Theo's wife Johanna a few days after his arrival:

The Letters of Vincent van Gogh is a collection of 903 surviving letters written (820) or received (83) by Vincent van Gogh. More than 650 of these were from Vincent to his brother Theo. The collection also includes letters van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil and other relatives, as well as between artists such as Paul Gauguin, Anthon van Rappard, and Émile Bernard.

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, the wife of Vincent's brother Theo, spent many years after her husband's death in 1891 compiling the letters, which were first published in 1914. Arnold Pomerans, editor of a 1966 selection of the letters, wrote that Theo "was the kind of man who saved even the smallest scrap of paper", and it is to this trait that the public owes the 663 letters from Vincent.

Vincent Van Gogh was displayed at the 1890 Les XX exhibition—an invitation-only show exclusively for members—in Brussels, Belgium. This served to demonstrate the recognition Van Gogh received from his avant-garde peers during his life. The choices of his works and their arrangements illustrated his thinking about his years of work in Provence.

His argument for their importance was rejected, and was washed away by the scandal his works provoked. The same works were again shown at the annual exhibition of the Artistes Indépendants in Paris which offered space for an expansion of the display. This was done by Theo van Gogh, Vincent's brother, as Vincent was suffering from long-lasting mental problems.

Johanna Gezina van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925) was a Dutch editor who translated the hundreds of letters of her first husband, art dealer Theo van Gogh, and his brother, painter Vincent van Gogh.

Van Gogh-Bonger played a key role in the growth of Vincent van Gogh's posthumous fame.

Wilhelmina Jacoba van Gogh (Dutch pronunciation: [ʋɪl(ɦɛlˈminaː jaːˈkoːbaː) vɑŋ ˈɣɔx]; 16 March 1862 – 17 May 1941) was a nurse, teacher of scripture, and early Dutch feminist. She was the youngest and best-known sister of artist Vincent van Gogh, who she was close to, and the art dealer Theo van Gogh.