Leonardo Da Vinci ~ Birth & Childhood, Education

  Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452 in Anchiano, Tuscany near the small town of Vinci, Italy. His mother was a peasant and his father was an attorney and they were never married. Because his parents remarried and had other partners, da Vinci had a total of 17 brothers and sisters, or half-siblings. Growing up, da Vinci was known throughout his town to be an extremely talented artist, thinker, and inventor. Surprisingly, da Vinci was never taught any formal form of education apart from the basics like reading and mathematics, but his family always supported his artistic aspirations while he grew up. At 15, he became an apprentice to Andrea del Verrocchio, a highly well known sculptor at the time. Once he entered into his 30's, da Vinci began creating his own pieces of art.

 Leonardo Da Vinci, self-portraits from youth 

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*I do not own any of the photos featured on this website*

• http://www.chinaoilpaintinggallery.com/oilpainting/Andrea-del-Sarto/Portrait-of-a-Young-Man.jpg
• http://www.chinaoilpaintinggallery.com/oilpainting/Rembrandt/Self-Portrait-as-a-Young-Man.jpg

Claude Monet - Birth & Childhood, Education

   Oscar Claude Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in Paris, France. In 1845, at the age of five  Monet and his family moved to Le Harve near Normandy, France. He was very close with his mother growing up and she greatly supported his decision to become an artist and his like of the arts. Her death caused him to suffer from sever depression. In school, Monet was considered a good student, although he always wanted to go outside. Little did he know that his love of the outdoors would greatly influence the creation and inspiration of most of his work. He was also said to have been extremely self-critical and was not pleased with some of his work, having demolished close to 500 pieces of art he had created.

Claude Monet at age 25, self-portait

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*I do not own any of the photos featured on this website*

• http://giverny.org/monet/biograph/cm_1867.jpg

Jackson Pollock - Birth & Childhood, Education

    Jackson Pollock was born on January 28th, 1912 in Cody, Wyoming. He was the youngest boy of five brothers. This resulted in him being very needy of attention a majority of his childhood, which he wasn't given. His father was a serious alcoholic and abandoned his family before he entered adolescents. His oldest brother Charles Pollock eventually grew and became a father-like figure to him, which he looked up to and was influenced from. Pollock attended Manual Arts High School located in Los Angeles, CA where he discovered his love for the arts. However, he was eventually expelled (twice!) before dropping out of high school to further pursue his artistic dreams. Pollock moved to New York City with his brother Charles which would result in the kickstart of his career.

Jackson Pollock at 16, 1928.

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*I do not own any of the photos featured on this website*

• http://teenagefilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/portrait-jackson-pollock-5722.jpeg

Vincent Van Gogh ~ Birth & Childhood, Education

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30th, 1853 in Zundert, Netherlands. He was one of six children and was born exactly one year after his older brother Vincent was stillborn. His mother's love of nature and painting rubbed off on him. Because of financial struggles, he had to abandon his education to work and support his family. He sold art at the age of 15 at his uncle's art dealership. 

After suffering from a very anxiety ridden breakdown, Van Gogh began devoting his life to the church and even considered becoming a minister. He was rejected for various personal reasons. In 1880, he moved to Brussels and began working on becoming an artist. His younger and favorite brother Theo was also an art dealer and decided to support Vincent financially. 

He had several family issues while he was growing up which involved money and relationships he previously had. He developed a very peripatetic way of living and focused on religion and painted his environment.

Vincent ca. 1866, age 13

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• Young: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Vincent_van_Gogh_1866.jpg