The beautiful insanity of Vincent Van Gogh

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Vincent Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853, the son of a pastor. He had a brother, Theo, who would become instrumental in Van Gogh’s life, as a means of emotional and financial support.

Vincent Van Gogh was highly temperamental and emotional, lacked self confidence throughout his life and struggled to find peace in his own life and relationships.

Van Gogh studied art in Belgium, and much of his early work was stark, somber toned and sharply lit. His most famous work during this time is “The Potato Eaters,” which Van Gogh painted in 1885 while in Nunen, the Netherlands. “The Potato Eaters” is an astonishing work, for while painters of the era were sketching and painting nobility and the bourgeois, Van Gogh painted peasants and farmhands. He would find himself drawn to the “lower classes” for most of his career.

Van Gogh traveled to Paris in 1886 to join his brother, Theo, who was managing an art gallery. It was in Paris that Vincent Van Gogh met Pissaro, Monet and a man with whom he would have one of the most tumultuous relationships of his life, Paul Gaugin. Van Gogh’s nervous temperament made it almost impossible for others to be around him, and Van Gogh decided to go to Arles, hoping his friends would join him. Only one did: Paul Gaugin. The two men moved into a small, yellow house, or The Studio of the South.

Both men were geniuses in their own right, but the time they spent together resulted in some of the most important artwork of the 19th, or any, century. Van Gogh painted “Sunflowers,” while Gaugin painted “Sunflowers on an Armchair.” They influenced one another, even as Gaugin slowly realized the depth of Van Gogh’s instability. Each man painted a self portrait, dedicated to the other. In a letter to Gaugin, Van Gogh writes “…if Jeannin can claim the peony, and Quost the hollyhock, then surely I, above all others, can lay claim to the sunflower.” Van Gogh wanted to find a niche, a place he could have separate from all other painters, and he seemed to have found one in The Yellow House with Paul Gaugin.

Near the end of 1888, and this event is rife with rumor and argument, Gaugin claimed that Van Gogh chased him around the house with an open razor. Gaugin stopped him, but Van Gogh cut off a portion of his own ear. Paul Gaugin left Arles after that, and Vincent Van Gogh descended into madness, spending time in an asylum in Saint-Remy. While in Saint-Remy, Vincent Van Gogh created one of the greatest paintings in history, “Starry Night.” In May of 1890, he left the asylum, and went to stay in Auvers-sur-Oise, under the care of a physician, Dr. Gachet.

Vincent Van Gogh died of a self inflicted gun shot wound in July of 1890. Theo died less than a year later of a syphilitic infection of the brain. Many art historians believe that while Theo did have syphilis, it was his inability to come to terms with Vincent’s death that caused his health to so rapidly decline. Without Vincent, it seemed that Theo had nothing left. In reality, Theo was the younger brother, but within his relationship with Vincent, he always seemed the elder.

Vincent Van Gogh was an artistic genius and a man who was unable to ever be truly happy with himself. His moodiness and violent outbursts drove so many away, including Paul Gaugin. But Theo never abandoned his older brother, always supported him, sold his paintings for him and spent the majority of his adult life looking out for him. Theo and Vincent’s letters to one another are contained within a book entitled “The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh.” They give startling insight into the mindset of Vincent Van Gogh and the true and unwavering love the two brothers had for each other.

“Starry Night” is on coffee mugs, shower curtain, t-shirts and socks, but the actual painting travels infrequently. I’ve seen it once, in The Chicago Art Institute. My husband took me to the Studio of the South exhibit, and I stood in front of “Starry Night,” mesmerized. I saw the stars and the swirls and the blues and the lights and knew this was pure beauty at the same time it was pure madness. I didn’t realize I was crying until the woman next to me touched my shoulder and whispered “I know.”

Thanks to Wikipedia, The Chicago Art Institute Studio of the South online exhibit and Van Gogh Gallery.com for contributions to this article.

About Post Author

Erin Nanasi

Erin Nanasi is an avid underwater basket weaver, with a penchant for satire and the odd wombat reference.
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Mary Fox
12 years ago

I have seen some of his work at the LA Art Museum. Although I lived many miles away I returned many times to see his work. His vision of the world was brilliant. Thanks Erin. Great article.

12 years ago

Truely an inspirational moment. LUV U

Erin N.
Reply to  Husband
12 years ago

I know you! One of the best vacations we ever took.

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