October 16, 2011 12:46 PM
His paintings are among the most well-known in the world, just like the story of his life and death: Vincent van Gogh was a troubled genius who killed himself. But now the authors of a biography say their exhaustive investigation strongly indicates he may not have taken his own life. Morley Safer reports.
The Life and Death of Vincent van Gogh
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See all 34 CommentsAlso, and sadly predictably, I think there has been far too much media attention and emphasis on the death theory. It is not so important how he died, but rather how he lived.
"There has been a lot of discussion this week about a mentally unhinged genius with flaming orangey-red hair who pours his creative energy, phenomenal skills and precise artistry into a body of work that stuns the world.
Like many of you, my news feed has been filled with the unfolding facts and the public's shocked reactions to the horrifying massacre in Aurora, Colorado. There was much discussion about what a gifted student this young man was, and what promise he had shown as a middle class boy from a good family who had been born with incredible intelligence and every advantage in achieving his full potential.
I knew that I had heard all of this somewhere before. In "Van Gogh, The Life", the authors describe an individual of striking similarity."
He was a failure at his work, he could not get any traction on his adult life, he remained dependent upon his family financially, he was living a secretive life far from home, no girl would give him the time of day...
What made Vincent, the original red headed stranger, transfigure our world through his visual imagery, instead of disfiguring all of us through blood and gore and sorrow? Why did Vincent turn his physical struggle inward and against himself by slicing his ear, while the awful boy in Aurora felt compelled, instead, to metasticize his anguish like a cancer?
I am grateful that when Vincent came to the fork in his road, that he was able to take a path toward beauty, light, hope and salvation. I am grateful for the uncredited people in his life who helped him, or were friendly to him, or who at least did not go out of their way to be ******** to him. I am grateful that when he felt bad, he fixed it by letting the art come out of him. I am grateful that it was easier for him to destroy his own ear than to destroy his paintings.
In one of his letters, Vincent said "for what is wrought in sorrow, lives for all time."
The victims of the Aurora shootings should never be forgotten, and they never will be forgotten by the families and friends who care about them. But their names, we all know, will eventually become eclipsed by the name of place where they bled to death, or by the name of the shooter who forced our attention.
Vincent knew that the art he made was his path to sanity and salvation. Instinctively, viscerally, and physically, Vincent knew that it was his art that gave him the only real voice that he had. It was the art that held the demons at bay.
I honestly don't believe that Vincent Van Gogh was capable of destroying himself, because in doing so, he knew he would be destroying the being, the spirit, the man who made the paintings. I think the boys shot him and he just let go...
Catherine Hicks
The Vincent Project
http://thevincentproject.blogspot.com
I visited Auvers Sur Oise and the Inn Ravoux.
It should be noted:
1- Many artists gathered nightly at the Inn Ravoux and drank absinthe which was made from wormwood. Now wormwood is outlawed because it destroys brain cells. Vincent suffered from depression, Asberger's and temporal lobe epilepsy. When he drank absinthe the result was toxic.
2- Van Gogh always had several canvases drying on the walls in his tiny room. The oil paint in the 1880's was full of toxic ingredients such as lead in lead white and cadmium in the yellows and reds. These factors combined with overwork, strenuous exercise, a poor diet and insufficient sleep contributed to his daily torment.
Today Van Gogh would be treated with antibiotics, antidepressants, anti seizure medications, and psychological counseling.
Artists and laymen who have read his letters, "Dear Theo", know that his writing was clear and most lucid- not those of a madman.
Poor fellow.
Here's a film by a guy who haunted Vincent's spirit through Provence and
got to paint sunflowers with the ghost. See for yourself.
Check it out: VAN GOGH ADVENTURE: VINCENT'S GHOST AND ME
here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU40quiHvE8&feature=feedu
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