The life and death of Vincent van Gogh

 

His paintings are among the most adored in the world, and the story of his life and death is legendary: Vincent van Gogh was a troubled genius who killed himself. But while van Gogh was no doubt plagued by physical and mental illness, the authors of a new biography say their exhaustive forensic investigation suggests he may not have taken his own life. In this two-part piece, Morley Safer travels to France to retrace van Gogh's final steps - and explore the authors' detective work firsthand.

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The following script is from "The Life and Death of Vincent van Gogh" which aired on Oct. 16, 2011.

Tonight we offer a rare visual treat: a look into the life and death of that troubled giant of a painter, Vincent van Gogh.

The bare outline of his life: unappreciated Dutch genius who in a fit of madness cut off his ear and later killed himself.

"60 Minutes Overtime": Virtual Van Gogh
Join Morley Safer for a virtual journey through the paintings of Vincent van Gogh

Now there's a new biography that challenges a crucial part of the van Gogh legend. A 10 year forensic investigation by two Pulitzer Prize-winning authors. If their detective work is right, it may well upend art history.

Their story rambles from van Gogh's birthplace in Holland to Paris, rural France, and to South Carolina. Much of our report is magnificently illustrated by the artist himself.

Here - outside the village of Auvers in the French countryside he loved, on the very edge of the wheat fields he painted so vividly - here, lies Vincent van Gogh. Alongside his devoted brother, Theo.

Morley Safer: No soaring memorials. It's just these simple headstones.

Steven Naifeh: Yeah, it couldn't be more moving knowing that Vincent spent most of his adult life wanting to be with Theo. And to have them spend eternity lying next to each other is seriously touching.

As we talked to co-author Steven Naifeh, a steady stream of pilgrims made their way through the fields to pay their respects at Vincent's grave. Tens of thousands of them come every year.

Naifeh: Japanese visitors actually bring the ashes of their ancestors to pour on the grave of the painter of "Starry Night." Russian visitors bring vodka to pour on the grave.

These South Koreans brought music -

[Visitor with iPhone: "On that starry, starry night you took your life..."]

Don Mclean's famous anthem to Vincent: an artist largely ignored in his lifetime, even ridiculed by the art establishment. Whose paintings are now valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars and command center stage at the great museums of the world.

Naifeh: The colors are beautiful and they're bright and they're cheerful. And if it's a bowl of flowers, it's an exuberant bowl of irises or roses. If it's a landscape, it's all the beauty of the natural world washing over you. You don't have to have a degree in art history to understand that message.

At the Musee d'Orsay in Paris - we talked of art and madness. Sitting by one of van Gogh's iconic self-portraits, painted in 1889 at Saint Paul, a clinic for the insane in Saint Remy, where he had himself committed for a year. Some other masterworks done at Saint Remy: irises. Cypresses. And "Starry Night."

Naifeh: Whether it's "Starry Night," with all that swirling sky, or the swirling brushstrokes in this painting, there are people who have said that this was a depiction of the craziness emanating from his mind. I don't think he's trying that at all. These beautiful, exquisitely colored blue brush strokes are really creating a pattern of unity and harmony and beauty.

Within the madness, there was genius.

Naifeh: Vincent was enormously proud that he painted this entire painting in less than an hour. About 45 minutes.

He worked so quickly that in nine years, he turned out more than a thousand paintings and another thousand drawings.

Naifeh: These are not just crazy works of art by a crazy painter. They are intentional masterpieces by somebody who knew exactly what they're doing.

For ten years, Steve Naifeh and his partner Greg Smith - who's recovering from cancer surgery - peered into every dark corner of Vincent van Gogh's life. He was laughed out of art school. Couldn't hold a job. And even tried being a minister, like his father, with disastrous results.

David Browning is the producer.

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[trutwin]

Always a fan of Vincent's I thoroughly enjoyed the program.

Over the course of 120 years the facts about Van Gogh's life and death have had ample time to become distorted even when handed down through the families of people who actually knew him. And aside from Vincent's personal letters to Theo and others how much verified documentation about his life exists today? At the time of his death he wasn't the equivalent of a modern day film or rock star and almost no one knew of his existence thus his name wasn't on everyone's lips. And remember, when he died no one knew that he would one day be acknowledged as the world's most famous artist.

[dodger318]

Please share with your audience the errors in this.
Vincent had friends. 265 of his letters contain he word friend, many of them preceeded by the word dear. "A Remarkable Friendship", book written about him and John Peter Russell. Toulouse-Lautrec challenged someone to a dual over his friendship with Vincent. Also, Theo looked nothing like Vincent. Theo, thin, handsome, brown-haired. Vincent, stout, red-haired, not handsome. The picture in Van Gogh: The Life labeled as Vincent at 13 is Theo, not Vincent. Just look at Vincent's photo at 18, which is correct. And, I've only been researching Vincent's life for 5 years, part-time. Please correct these errors. thanks

[dodger318]

Another error. One of the authors touches his right ear indicating that was the one that Vincent cut. It was actually his left ear. To paint a self portrait you have to use a mirror and mirrors reverse images left/right. Check it out.

[ludwig]

It is notable a similar story regarding the great Russian composer who supposedly commited suicide by water contaminated cholera. Tschaikovsky died November 6, 1893. Since then various claims have been made about his death--including (1)given a choice of being exposed as a gay man or committing suicide (2) being murdered by a St, Petersburg restaurant waiter by serving T. water with ice carrying cholera and a few others. IF only the rumors would stop --we would know the truth both about Vincent, who died on July 29,1890 and Tchaikovsky--both of whom had various so-called 'mental' problems and both died only three years, approximately apart. One recognizes as a great composer--the other an unsung painter.

[ludwig]

Modern forensics could do something to solve this puzzle through DNA investigation IF the gun exists and not too many people have handled it since. The guilt story of the boys could bear some truth--if we could get DNA analysis from their remains and compare with the DNA left on the gun. DNA from Vincent should be easy to obtain from the letters and other things that he handled.
The art professors at USCar.@Aiken need to be forgiven for their lack of scientific knowledge and should have included a forensic scientist on their team as do most archeologists worthy of their profession. IS the motivation for research a situation of publish of perish--we will not know.

[ggoski1]

I enjoyed the program especially the art I hadn't seen before. I work with people with mental illness, and the one thing I didn't like was his new diagnosis of temporal lobe seizures. He seems classically schizophrenic to me and I don't think there should be any shame in saying that.

[Tralbaut]

The rumor that two young boys accidently shot Vincent has been around for some time -- see "Vincent van Gogh: chemicals, crises, and creativity" published in 1992, on page 259, and available at [e-mail] As described therein, the rumor was first recountered to me in 1988 by Professor John Rewald who professed no confidence in the rumor -- and I find noi evidence to support it.

[rwsmith29456]

It's great to bring attention to Van Gogh but somebody is trying to sell the story about how he died. I'm not buying.

[sarchd280]

I just have to say loved this story. I didn't realized that I liked van Gogh until my first year of college when my grandmother died. I coudn't make it to her funeral but my mom ask me what I wated from her house and I said the van Gogh print of his sunflowers. It wasn't that I even knew who painted the orginal all I knew was that I stared at it every time we went to her house. It know hangs in my bedroom. Also becuase I mentioned it the flowers my mom and her siblings choose for the service ended up being those sunflowers.

[workerdroid]

I went to an exhibit several years ago at the Belagio Hotel in Vegas. There was an Impressionist Artist exhibit. I stood in front of Van Gogh paintings for a long time. It was an incredibly moving experience.
Until you see one up close, you can't really appreciate them. It was a remarkable thing to see.

[wlhoppers]

Why is this a headline story? This is nothing but hype and promotion going into November ratings.

CBS - always after the dollar, not the news