Contemporaries

Who were Van Gogh's contemporaries?

Van Gogh lived just from 1853 to 1890. He shared those years with painters, writers, thinkers and inventors.

Van Gogh
1853–1890
Monet
1840–1926
Tchaikovsky
1840–1893
Tolstoy
1828–1910
Nietzsche
1844–1900
Darwin
1809–1882
Edison
1847–1931
Queen Victoria
1819–1901
Lincoln
1809–1865
1820 1850 1880 1910
Music Art Literature Philosophy Politics Science

Van Gogh's lifespan is highlighted. The other bars show some notable contemporaries.

Parallels

Meanwhile, in the same years.

The age of light

In 1879, Edison brought the first practical light bulb to life, just before Van Gogh discovered painting. In the years he took up the brush, electric light was slowly making its way into the cities.

Fame just out of reach

Van Gogh sold almost nothing in his lifetime. By the late 1880s, his contemporary Monet was finally celebrated and selling well.

A tower of iron

While Van Gogh painted in the south of France, the Eiffel Tower rose over Paris in 1889.

A creative blaze

1888 was an extraordinarily creative year for both: Van Gogh painted at a feverish pace in Arles, and Nietzsche wrote several of his final books. Both broke down soon after, Van Gogh later that same year, Nietzsche at the start of the next.

See more

This is one slice. Parallel shows the rest.

Parallel shows you contemporaries at a glance, across art, music, science and politics. For anyone you are curious about, you can see who lived at the same time.

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