Random Facts About Tortured, Miserable Life of Vincent van Gogh (15 items)

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  (#10) The Nazis Declared Him A 'Degenerate'

  Vincent van Gogh was one of many artists that the Nazis declared "degenerate." Not content to merely remove certain paintings and artists from the state's museums, they went so far as to organize auctions to sell off such artwork en masse. One of the works caught up in this process was a self portrait by Van Gogh that is among his most famous works. Not only is the jade background a striking color, but the almost oblong skull of Van Gogh also makes the painting an unusual rendition and an unmistakable image. But it is the historical context of the painting that really makes it unique. The official title of the painting is Self Portrait Dedicated To Paul Gauguin. Van Gogh painted it in 1888, inscribed it  "A Mon Ami Paul," and sent it to Gauguin at the artist's home in Brittany, in the hope it would induce him to come to the proposed "artist's colony" in Arles.

  Despite their falling out, Gauguin must have liked the painting because he kept it until 1897 when, attempting to raise money for one of his Polynesian excursions, he pawned it to a Parisian art dealer who subsequently sold it for 300 francs. Thinking that the inscription would lessen the sales price, someone, probably Gauguin, obscured the dedication, which is still faintly visible in the upper portion of the painting. When the painting was auctioned off in Lucerne, in 1939, it went for 12,000 pounds, a surprisingly high price. Purchased by banker Maurice Wertheim, upon his death, it was bequeathed to Harvard University, where it hangs in the Fogg Art Museum.    
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  (#14) Vincent's Death Sent His Brother Into A Downward Spiral

  Following the death of Vincent, Theo van Gogh seems to have gone into a profoundly negative health spiral. By November of 1890, he was a patient at a psychiatric hospital near Utrecht, Holland, having left Paris to be hospitalized near family members. He died in hospital on January 25, 1891, aged 33. His death has been attributed to many factors including syphilis-induced dementia, suicide, and severe depression over his brother's death. Whatever the specific cause, Theo's condition was deemed serious enough to confine him to a mental institution. Initially buried in Utrecht, recognizing the remarkable bond between Vincent and Theo, Theo's widow had his remains exhumed and reburied next to Vincent at the cemetery in Auver-Sur-Oise.
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  (#13) HIs Sister-In-Law Helped Popularize Van Gogh

  Johanna "Jo" van Gogh-Bonger was born in Amsterdam in 1862. She was introduced by her brother to Theo van Gogh who immediately proposed, a proposal that was eventually accepted in 1889. In fact, her marriage and subsequent delivery of a son may have been the main factors in Vincent's decision to commit suicide, believing that Theo, with a growing family, would soon be unable to support him. With Theo's death shortly after Vincent's, it was left to Jo van Gogh to make something of the then-worthless artistic legacy and collected letters of both Vincent and Theo. Through her promotion of Vincent's work with prominent art dealers and her publication of Letters To Theo, a public fascination with the work and life of Vincent van Gogh began - a fascination that has never subsided. With her death, her son Vincent Willem, named after his illustrious uncle, continued her work and established the foundation that is responsible for the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
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  (#1) He Cut Off His Ear Lobe In An Attempt To Win Back A Friend

  In the summer of 1888, Vincent van Gogh left the city of Paris and headed to the Provence region of France. Supported financially by his art-dealer brother Theo, he ultimately settled in the ancient town of Arles, where he rented a large yellow house and began to dream of establishing an artist colony where he and other like-minded painters could live and create. Theo and Vincent were acquainted with Paul Gauguin, another cutting-edge impressionist that both men admired professionally. It took some persuasion, but in October of 1888, Gauguin agreed to move to the Yellow House, and initially the two artists functioned reasonably well together. Gauguin was a streetwise, former stock exchange worker, and van Gogh was a troubled and talented young man. Unfortunately, the acerbic and condescending Gauguin and the sensitive, needy Vincent van Gogh quickly began to get on each other's nerves. What little money they had was consumed by drinking and visits to nearby brothels. Eventually, sensing correctly that Gauguin was preparing to abandon him and their "artistic colony," Van Gogh descended into drunken agitation and hostility.

  According to Gauguin, on December 23, after another savage argument, he moved out and checked into a hotel when Van Gogh threatened him with a knife. Supposedly, Van Gogh sliced off much of his left ear lobe, walked to a familiar brothel and presented the bloody appendage to a prostitute named Rachel, who fainted on the spot. Because Gauguin's self-serving account is the only perspective that remains, speculation continues around what exactly happened and who exactly cut off Van Gogh's ear. A recent theory is that Gauguin, an accomplished fencer, actually lopped off the ear during the pair's final argument. Whatever the case, Van Gogh evaded police on the night of the 23rd but, because they knew of his eccentric identity, they eventually made it to the Yellow House, where they discovered him in his blood soaked bed. Van Gogh was taken to the hospital and eventually committed himself to a mental asylum. Gauguin noticed the police activity when he returned and left Arles on Christmas Day, informing Theo of his brother's condition while en route to Paris.

  Although the two artists would never see each other again, they would continue to correspond. With his typical arrogance, within weeks, Gauguin sent Van Gogh a letter requesting that Vincent give him back paintings that he had previously gifted.  
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  (#15) At One Time, A Van Gogh Was The Most Expensive Painting In The World

  In 1990, one of the two Van Gogh Portrait of Dr. Gachet paintings was removed by its owners, the Kramarsky family, to be auctioned. The painting was one of several Van Gogh's owned by banker Siegfried Kramarsky, who died in 1961. Kramarsky bought the painting when the Nazi government purged it from a Frankfurt art museum and ordered it sold. The subsequent May 15, 1990 Christie's auction caused a sensation in the art world when a Japanese industrialist, Ryoei Saito, bid $82.5 million, way over the expected $40 million and a record price. A day later Saito bought a Renoir for $78.1 million. Saito also irritated many by placing the painting in his private office and declaring that, upon his death, he would be cremated clutching the portrait in his arms. Subsequently, Saito experienced severe financial difficulties, and the painting was reportedly sold. Its whereabouts are unknown. The Van Gogh record price would stand until May 2004 when it was broken by Picasso's Boy With A Pipe, which sold for $93 million. 
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  (#7) His Therapist Made Off With Millions Of Dollars Worth Of Van Gogh's Art When He Died

  Vincent van Gogh spent the last 90 days of his life in the small French town of Auvers-Sur-Oise, 20 miles from Paris. His brother Theo sent him to Auvers based on the recommendations from other artists because of a doctor who lived there by the name of Paul Gachet. Dr. Gachet was a physician and devotee of homeopathic medicine, and Theo was hoping that he could help his brother achieve some semblance of stability and happiness. Gachet was also an artist and art collector who traded his services for paintings from the likes of Cezanne, Renoir, and Van Gogh, who famously painted his portrait. Unfortunately, although he became quite friendly with Van Gogh in his last days, Gachet was unable to prevent his suicide in July of 1890. After the funeral of Van Gogh, who was buried in Auvers, in the town cemetery, Theo van Gogh invited the small circle of mourners back to Vincent's lodgings and suggested they each take a painting in remembrance of his brother. When it was their turn, Paul Gachet and his son gathered up as many paintings as they could carry. Although these paintings would be privately kept by Gachet's son for many years, he ultimately donated most of them to the Louvre, and today they make up the bulk of the Van Gogh exhibition at the Musee D'Orsay.  

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