Passage 20
学霸导读 梵高的一生是坎坷的，但他始终对艺术充满执着。他的作品除了有宝贵的艺术价值，更是其艺术精神的体现。
Vincent Van Gogh was one of the most famous Dutch artists of the 19th century. Over the course of his 37 years, Van Gogh painted some of the most renowned paintings of our t 1 . At the age of sixteen, he began a career not as a painter but as an art salesman for the f irm Goupil & Cie. Van Gogh spent seven years with the f irm, but became unhappy. In the following years, Van Gogh went from job to job, living in v 2 cities in Europe.
Van Gogh was not c 3 of his own abilities, but through the encouragement and support of his beloved brother, Theo, he went to Brussels to begin studies in art. During the next ten years, he painted 872 paintings. Although Van Gogh is a world-famous artist today, he was l 4 known to the art world while he was alive. He sold only one painting during his lifetime but his fame grew rapidly in the years after his death.
Later Van Gogh also s 5 from severe depression and was admitted to an asylum （ 精神病院 ）. While in the asylum Van Gogh painted one of his best-known paintings—The Starry Night. On July 27， 1890， Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest in a wheat f ield. Two days later he died with his younger brother， Theo， by his s 6 .
Van Gogh produced more than 2，000 art works， consisting of around 900 paintings and 1，100 drawings and sketches. His work has a strong inf luence on the modern art， and today many of his pieces， including his numerous s 7 -portraits， landscapes （ 风景画 ） and oil paintings， are among the world’s most recognizable and expensive works of art.
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高频词汇
renowned /rɪ'naʊnd/ adj. 著名的，闻名的
beloved /bɪ'lʌvd/ adj. 亲爱的，深爱的
fame /feɪm/ n. 名声，名气
sketch /sketʃ/ n. 素描，速写
numerous /'njuːmərəs/ adj. 许多的，大量的