4 of 18

Write now Article Tools

Page 3 of 3

seemed complete, heartbreakingly so to Theo who traveled to his bedside. Shortly after this however, he was painting again.

A month after leaving the hospital Vincent suffered a relapse, hearing voices and paranoid about being poisoned; he continued to have bouts of madness but painting when he was lucid. Little understanding or treatment was available in 1889 for a man suffering as Vincent undoubtedly was. That year was spent by him in an asylum at St. Remy, near Arles but he never entirely stopped working. Early in 1890 before he left the asylum, one of Vincent's paintings was sold: The Red Vineyard was the only canvas sold in his lifetime.

Theo had married and he and his wife had a son who they named Vincent. In May 1890 Vincent was well enough to make the journey to Paris to visit his brother and his family and after a few days with them went, as arranged, to Auvers to be near a physician, Dr. Gachet. In the village he lodged in a small inn and seemed happy to paint the gardens and the buildings there. In June Theo and his wife and baby made the half-hour journey from Paris and they had a picnic with Vincent, followed by a walk. The artist's health seemed stable and Theo was hopeful.

Depression was never far away, however. It is not known from where Vincent obtained a gun but on July 27 1890 he entered a farmyard and shot himself in the abdomen. He staggered back to his room at the inn where 36 hours later, Theo beside him, he died. He was 37 years old.

Theo was utterly overcome by grief and was himself dead within 6 months of Vincent's tragic death, his health and sanity destroyed by the loss of the brother he so adored. Theo's widow had his body brought from Holland and he is buried next to Vincent, in Auvers.

Source: Robert Wallace - The World of Van Gogh.

Learn more about this author, Anne Penny.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3

Add your voice

Know something about Biography: Vincent Van Gogh?
We want to hear your view. Write now!