Q 01/05

Vincent van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in which village in the Dutch province of North Brabant?

A) Nuenen

B) Etten

C) Zundert

D) Breda

Answer · why

C) Zundert

The province was predominantly Catholic, but his father was a Protestant minister there. A museum and a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine of the two brothers...

Q 02/05

Roughly how many artworks did Van Gogh produce in just over a decade as an artist?

A) About 2,100

B) About 400

C) About 900

D) About 1,500

Answer · why

A) About 2,100

Around 860 of them are oil paintings, and most were made in the last two years of his life. He was 27 when he took up drawing seriously and 37 when he...

Q 03/05

On 27 July 1890 Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. How long afterwards did he die?

A) Within the hour

B) Two days later

C) A week later

D) Nearly a month later

Answer · why

B) Two days later

He walked back to his lodgings with the bullet still inside him and was able to smoke his pipe and talk to Theo, who arrived from Paris the next day.

Q 04/05

Van Gogh's younger brother Theo bankrolled him for most of his career. What was Theo's profession?

A) Banker

B) Pharmacist

C) Newspaper editor

D) Art dealer

Answer · why

D) Art dealer

Theo worked in Paris for the same firm that had employed Vincent as a young man, and it was Theo who introduced him to the Impressionists and their de...

Q 05/05

Which ear did Van Gogh partly sever with a razor in December 1888?

A) His right ear

B) Both ears

C) His left ear

D) Only the right earlobe

Answer · why

C) His left ear

He wrapped the piece in paper and delivered it to a woman at a local brothel. Historians still argue over whether he removed the whole ear or only the...