Van Gogh’s brother who supported him was Theo van Gogh, usually known simply as Theo.
Theo was Vincent’s younger brother and worked as an art dealer. Beginning in the early 1880s, he provided money, art supplies and practical help that allowed Vincent to pursue painting. Theo’s support was both financial and emotional: he encouraged Vincent through periods of poverty, illness and artistic uncertainty.
The brothers maintained an extraordinary correspondence. More than 600 surviving letters from Vincent to Theo record Vincent’s ideas about art, descriptions of his surroundings and struggles with his mental health. Theo also advised him about artistic trends and helped connect him with contemporary painters and dealers.
Theo invited Vincent to live with him in Paris in 1886, where Vincent encountered Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist art. Later, Theo helped finance Vincent’s hoped-for artists’ community in Arles, including Paul Gauguin’s stay. Theo died only months after Vincent, in January 1891.