1,128 days ago I quit my job and started writing online. I posted every day for two years, then began working on something with Penguin. Today, finally, I'm announcing my book. The Cultural Tutor: 49 Lessons You Wish You'd Learned At School. It's out this September and

But this isn't about art. The story of Vincent's evolution is the story of how profoundly we are all shaped by what we consume and the people we spend time with — life-altering moments surround us. Something to ponder in the choices we make every day about those things. .

Without Mauve, Rubens, Hiroshige, Gauguin, Monticelli, and so many more whose art he learned from, nor without the support of Père Tanguy or Agostina Segatori, nor the devotion of Theo and the efforts of Jo, would the Vincent van Gogh now so beloved around the world have existed.

None of this should detract from van Gogh's special qualities as an artist, nor from the impact his psychological struggles had on his creative work. But van Gogh's transition in style is absolutely inseparable from the people he met, the places he went, and the art he saw.

Vincent died in 1890 — his devoted brother Theo died just a few months later. And so Theo's wife Jo inherited Vincent's art, which was still essentially worthless. But she worked tirelessly to promote his art and life — it was thanks to Jo that van Gogh's legacy survived.

After leaving Arles van Gogh spent time in an asylum in Saint-Rémy; afterward he moved to Auvers-sur-Oise. It was then, in his last year, that Vincent's art became even more vibrant, in which not only colour but the very shape of things became miraculously, furiously expressive.

In August 1888 van Gogh left Paris for the town of Arles, in southern France. And there the artist now so famous finally emerged, reshaped by what he had learned in Paris. From the dark and grim Realism of his early days to a world where colour reigned supreme:

All these modern artists used to gather at the shop of Père Tanguy, something like a father figure for them, or at the Café du Tambourin, run by Agostina Segatori. They supported one another financially, held exhibitions, and (eventually) changed art forever.

Ukiyo-e came from a wholly different artistic tradition. They had bold colours, unusual perspectives, and depicted scenes from ordinary life — far from the Academic Art of Europe. Van Gogh collected ukiyo-e, especially by Hiroshige, and even made his own versions of them:

Another colossal influence on van Gogh was Japanese art. Japan had reopened its borders to international trade in 1854 and Europe was soon flooded with Japanese products. Including ukiyo-e prints, the most famous of which is now Hokusai's Great Wave Off Kanagawa:

Whether through Pointillism or Cloisonnoism or Post-Impressionism — all experimental, progressive art movements — van Gogh absorbed the lessons of his fellow artists and started applying them. And thus his work became bolder and more vibrant — colour was seeping in.

During two years in Paris Vincent van Gogh either worked alongside or learned about painters like Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Émile Bernard, Paul Cézanne. the list goes on. All were at the forefront of modern art — this was a long way from Mauve or the Academy.

And there was one painter in particular he admired, who died shortly after he came to Paris: Alphonse Monticelli. Van Gogh wrote to the critic Albert Aurier that he owed everything to the flower paintings of Monticelli — and was soon inspired to start painting flowers himself.

While studying in Paris at the studio of a painter called Ferdinand Cormon, van Gogh met Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (later famous for his Art Nouveau posters), who made a portrait of him. It's easy to see how this new, much more colourful kind of art influenced Vincent.

Theo was familiar with the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists working in Paris at the time — and he introduced Vincent to all of them. He had suddenly become part of a thriving, rebellious, experimental community of artists. The dream must have seemed closer than ever.

But in 1886, after just three fruitless and frustrating months at the Academy, van Gogh left Antwerp. He went to live in Paris with Theo, where they rented a flat together on the Rue Lepic. Everything was about to change.

Though, in Antwerp, van Gogh was also exposed to the art of the 17th century master Peter Paul Rubens, whose expressive colours and dynamic brushwork were an immense influence on the novice Vincent. His artistic worldview was expanding.

Well — Vincent went to Antwerp in Belgium, where he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, in 1886. There (perhaps unsurprisingly) he clashed with the teachers and their preference for traditional methods of academic art. This was the sort of thing they painted:

Meanwhile Theo became an art dealer in Paris and, ever-supportive of his brother's dreams, tried to sell Vincent's work. But people weren't interested. Theo said they were too dark and advised Vincent to explore the brighter colours of Impressionism, which was then in fashion.

Toward the end of 1883, however, having fallen out with Mauve over his relationship with a prostitute, van Gogh went to live with his parents in a town called Nuenen. There he made over 200 paintings of the farms and peasants that so fascinated him — still in that gloomy style.