This article is by Shin Min-hee and read by an artificial voice.



Seventy-six Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) paintings from the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands have arrived in Seoul for the largest Korean retrospective of the Dutch artist, who led a life full of tragedy, poverty and failure.

The Hangaram Art Museum inside the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District, southern Seoul, will kick off "Van Gogh, The Great Passion" on Nov. 29.



Van Gogh has created some 2,100 artworks during his decade-long career, with oil paintings making up around 860 of them. The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo owns the second largest Van Gogh collection, housing over 90 paintings and over 180 drawings, following the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

It's the first time in 12 years that Seoul Center Museum, the production company of this exhibition, has brought original Van Gogh paintings to the country. Two more retrospectives were each held at the Seoul Museum of Art in 2007 and the Seoul Arts Center in 2012, comprised of works from the aforementioned museums in the Netherlands.

The 76 works in this exhibition, featuring 39 oil paintings and the rest being drawings, are valued at 1 trillion won ($714,285), according to the organizers.



The show is arranged in chronological order, beginning when Van Gogh began painting at 27 years old until his death by gunshot at 37. The transformation of his body of work can be primarily divided by his location when the works were created - The Hague, Paris, Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise.

Much of Van Gogh's early drawings were created in the Netherlands in the 1880s. Seo Soun-jou, the director of the exhibition, said that the work during this time laid the foundation for Van Gogh's oil paintings in his later years. This was also when the painter encountered his first heartbreak, afflicted on him by his widowed cousin, which played a significant part in his lifelong misery.



Van Gogh struggled financially as an artist, only selling one oil painting, "The Red Vineyard" (1888), his entire life. He was also admitted to a mental hospital, suffering from multiple seizures and ultimately killing himself at a young age.

Though Van Gogh's resume made little impact when compared to other masters like Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, who pioneered the Renaissance, or Picasso for the Cubism movement, it's his distinctive artistic spirit that no other artist possessed that established Van Gogh as one of the world's most widely celebrated artists.

"His paintings are an ode to his love for humanity. It's unfortunate, considering that he was never lucky in love," Seo said during a press conference at the exhibition on Friday. "He poured out his tortured soul into his beautiful paintings."



"Van Gogh, The Great Passion" continues until March 16 next year. Hangaram Art Museum is open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. except Mondays. Regular admission is 24,000 won for adults.