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What jobs did Vincent van Gogh hold before becoming an artist?
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Vincent van Gogh
Self-Portrait, oil on artist's board on cradled panel by Vincent van Gogh, 1887; in the Art Institute of Chicago.
Before dedicating his life to art in 1880, Vincent van Gogh held several different positions:
- Art Dealer: At age 16, he was apprenticed to the art dealers Goupil and Co. He worked for the firm in The Hague, London, and Paris between 1869 and 1876.1
- Teacher and Preacher: He worked as a language teacher and a lay preacher in England.1
- Bookseller: In 1877, he worked for a bookseller in Dordrecht, Netherlands.1
- Missionary: He pursued training as an evangelist and subsequently performed missionary work among impoverished coal miners in the Borinage region of Belgium.1