More than any other artists, it is Van Gogh paintings that people recognize above all others. The work of this seminal artist seems to have seeped into the public’s consciousness without leaving a trace of its path in, sneaking in without altering people to its presence. Now babies who are born are seemingly aware of the work of this prolific painter, all without being told about him. The man has become a common cultural meme, with people knowing about him even though they are not aware they know about him.

It seems as if he stands alone in terms of popularity and being recognized by people who ordinarily are not interested in art. His only parallel, it seems, is someone like Pablo Picasso, whom many people know but countless people could not recognize. Thanks to the swathe of self portraits this Dutch artist produced, however, more people seem likely to be able to recognize him than the celebrities which fill the culture pages of today’s newspapers and websites.

For many people this will be going over old ground. However, there are a similarly large amount of people who know of the man, but not about him. He was born at the end of March 1853 in the Netherlands, and only lived to the age of thirty seven. At that point, he shot himself with a gun.

Though people cannot be sure because attention around the disease did not exist as much at the time as it does now, people believe that this talented genius was flawed. Many people posit that he suffered from immense bouts of depression. During his lifetime it seems that many people did not care about the man who would, after his death, become one of the world’s most famous men.

When he started painting in his twenties (he was a late starter professionally), very few of his works sold. However, he continued to battle against disinterest, producing a huge number of pieces. Many of them survive today.

Artistic experts believe that in the final ten years of his life, the painter managed to put together more than two thousand oil paintings. This is an extraordinarily high number. A significant number of them used paint as their medium.

Luckily, there were some people who thought that this little known man’s works were worth saving, and so today – with the benefit of hindsight – the world has come to appreciate his talent. Where would the world be today without such paintings as ‘The Starry Night’, a work which everyone will have seen even if they do not know the title? It would be a much less cultural place.

Vincent Van Gogh paintings are held in unequivocal high regard by almost everyone. There are art critics who can wax lyrical about the man’s talents. However it is the average person whose tastes are better represented: those who do not enjoy art do enjoy looking at this unique talent’s work.