critical of Tersteeg, who was a pragmatic person, and had somewhat con-ventional and commercially-slanted views about what and how an artistshould paint. At Goupil, Vincent was exposed to a variety of art, and, un-der supervision, assisted in the sale of paintings, photographs, engravings,lithographs, and reproductions. Vincent worked as an apprentice until hewas 23, when he was fired for conducting himself inappropriately. Accord-ing to his superiors he would commonly and inappropriately discuss themerits of the works of art with customers and frequently talk them out ofsales. At Goupil, van Gogh learned much about art and began to develophis own moral, political, and artistic values about what was good, whatwas worthwhile, and what pandered to the lowest common denominatorof public taste.After this experience, Vincent tried various jobs, including teacher,book dealer, and lay minister. Until he was 27, in 1880, he tried out these ac-tivities in the search of a meaningful career. While he was working as an en-thusiastic book dealer in Dordrecht, Holland, a fellow lodger wrote of him:He was a singular man with a singular appearance into the bargain. Hewas well made, and had reddish hair which stood up on end; his facewas homely and covered with freckles, but changed and brightenedwonderfully when he warmed into enthusiasm, which happened oftenenough. Van Gogh proved laughter repeatedly by his attitude andbehavior—for everything he did and thought and felt, and his way ofliving, was different from that of others of his age” (Treble, 1975, p. 11).In May 1877 van Gogh left Dordrecht and went north to Amsterdam.He had decided he wanted to study theology, an idea he had been thinkingabout for some time. In Dordrecht he began to prepare for the state examthat would allow him to do so. He also set out to improve himself. Realizingthat he was impulsive, he recognized that he needed to exercise patienceand discipline, and wrote to his brother Theo:I have a lot of work to do and it is not very easy, but patience will helpme through. I hope to remember the ivy ‘which stealth on though hewears no wings’; as the ivy creeps along the walls, so the pen mustcrawl over the paper (NYGS, Letter 95, 19 May 1877).1He was referring to the writing he was required to do to preparefor his theological studies. In this same letter, he commented that therewere certain features that religion and painting had in common, such as astep-by-step process, and the considerable study time that both demanded.He told Theo about some cheap prints he had bought to hang up in his