Vincent van Gogh was named after his uncle Vincent， a successful art dealer in the Hague， his father was a minister of the Dutch reformed church in a series of small towns in Holland. In other words， art and religion were the two family businesses， so to speak， and Van Gogh tried them both. He worked for his uncle first in the Hague and then in the companys branch office in London.<br> Van Gogh could read，write， and speak English fairly well， he loved to read——he was probably one of the most well-read painters of the 19th century. He also loved to take long walks through the countryside——Walks that sometimes became pilgrimages that would last for days.<br> After a frustrated love affair， Van Gogh became enthustaically religious for several years. At one point he labeled as a missionary among wretchedly poor coal miners in a remote rural distinct in Belgium， until the religious authorities， disapproving of his zeal in sharing the conditions of the poor， dismissed him.
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