He was his father’s elder brother, also married to a Carbentus daughter, both him and his wife were very close to his parents. He used to travel a lot in Europe, and brought back paintings and reproductions.
Owner of the gallery in La Haye, he joined the Goupil firm which owned several branches in Brussels, Paris, London…
He played a major role in Vincent’s life. It was in the La Haye gallery that Vincent got his first job.
Later, discouraged by Vincent’s behaviour, Cent would disinherit him in favour of Theo.
At his death, Vincent wrote:
“ it’s a pity somehow that younger we saw him so often and we even were influenced by him. Thus to see someone who used to be so energetic reduced to such unlikely helplessness and endless pain. Gober illustrated him dead as such, like the best of men in the best of possible worlds where everything runs smoothly. He never was calm, peaceful, severe. If I noticed such an effect while watching a dead face as if I was to question him, it was for me a proof of a life beyond. A child in the cradle, has infinity in his eyes…”