My Hardships

I have been a hard worker throughout my entire life. In the beginning of my career, people did not want to buy my art. As a young man, my mother passed away. It really was a tragedy. At first, I tried to grab the attention of people by being a local artist but as I grew older, I went to school and got the right training to becoming a great artist. In 1878, life became really hard for me. I had Camille pregnant with an unexpected child in our hands. My family was very displeased with me. They wanted to disown me and so they did. I really did not mean for all this to happen. What was even worse was that no one wanted to pay me for my paintings shown in the International Maritime Exhibition at La Havre. During this time, I was in a financial crisis. My debts were so high that I was incapable of paying for them. I did not know what else I could do. I knew that if I could not do anything to pay for these debts, my creditors will manage to find something that will pay for them. Furthermore, my creditors thought that it would be okay to take away my canvases as a replacement for the money to pay off the debts. I was heartbroken. But in the end things did get a lot better thanks to Mrs. Gaudibert. After moving to Hoshede, my wife died, leaving me with two children. In my later years, I eventually became blind but I still tried to paint even though I knew that my sight was getting worse.