by Bluebird

Created on: August 27, 2009

Vincent Van Gogh (30 March 1853 29 July 1890), was a man who suffered a great deal due to his unbalanced mind rather than at the hands of those who jeered and abandoned him.

His painting can be truly appreciated only by those who know his story. Perhaps it is the sadness and sorrow of his life that adds a glimmer of beauty touched by darkness and pain in his paintings.

During his life, he was seldom appreciated for his paintings; after his demise, they earned much acclaim and are now coveted as precious gems by collectors around the world. His paintings are now sold for millions, and it is ironic when one realizes that Vincent himself was supported financially by Theo, his brother. Theo was the main character in Vincent's life. He was a loving brother who cared much for Vincent and was always there for him.

In November 1887, Theo and Vincent befriended Paul Gauguin. Gauguin went on to become a very close friend of Vincent and eventually he grew possessive of Gauguin. However, their friendship started deteriorating badly due to their constant disputes regarding art. On 23 December 1888, Van Gogh cut off the lower part of his own left ear lobe. There are many disparities regarding this fact as some claim that he did so when he felt sure that Gauguin was going to desert him and others feel that it was a result of seizure. Vincent soon began having hallucinations and became paranoid and firmly believed that he was being poisoned.

On 8 May 1889 Van Gogh, admitted himself to the mental hospital of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole. It was during his stay there, when he painted one of his masterpieces, The Starry Night. The clinic and the garden proved to be the inspiration for many of his paintings thus giving rise to images of cypresses and olive trees.

On 27 July 1890, Van Gogh's depression took a toll on his life and he shot himself in the chest with a revolver. His wound was fatal and he died in his bed at Ravoux Inn two days later. Theo who was at his side during the last moments of his life reported his last words as "La tristesse durera toujours" (the sadness will last forever"). Many have tried to diagnose the exact cause of Van Gogh's mental illness and has come up with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria. The exact culprit for his unbalanced mind remains unknown.

The legacy of Van Gogh, bound in his paintings truly make him immortal and will forever be cherished by art lovers. The tragedy however is that Van Gogh died not knowing the acclaim his art would receive.

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