1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm Deblina Chuck reboarding. And it 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: seems like van Go has been in the news kind 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: of a lot lately. But when I thought about it, 6 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: I realized van Go is always in the news, isn't he. 7 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: He is. In fact, you'll see something about his latest 8 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: record breaking sale, or show his hidden works, like paintings 9 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: that are revealed under paintings through X rays. Love those 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: because it's like there's seriously a secret hidden painting underneath 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: another van Go. And then sometimes there's news about frauds too, 12 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: and that's always kind of exciting in its own weird way. 13 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: But van Go news isn't always all about art. Sometimes 14 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: it's about the man. And that's partly because the man 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: is what we've come to see is the epitome of 16 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: the tortured artist almost even though we've talked at about 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: some other I think really strong contenders on this podcast, 18 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: like Caravaggio and Michelangelo, but Vankoh just has this really 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: compelling life, and I think part of it has to 20 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: do with the fact that there are so many opposites 21 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: involved in in what he did and who he was. 22 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: He was an immensely talented artist, but almost totally unrecognized 23 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: in his own lifetime. He was an incredibly warm person, 24 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: but also mentally unstable and alcoholic. He was a devoted 25 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: letter writer, but also the kind of guy who cuts 26 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:35,919 Speaker 1: off his own ear, wraps it up like a present 27 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: and gives it as a Christmas gift to a prostitute. 28 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that kind of letter delivering something. 29 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: It sends a message. I am sure about that. Um 30 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: so yeah, I mean, he's just got so much going on. 31 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: He's he makes a really interesting figure. So it's not 32 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: too surprising that people are still analyzing Van Gogh's health, 33 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: his mental state, and even his cause of death, which 34 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: was long believed to be suicide. And they're coming up 35 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: with new ideas all the time. So we'll talk about 36 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: the man and his art, but we'll also talk about 37 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,639 Speaker 1: some of the more recent theories about his life, as 38 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: well as the high tech advancements in studying his paintings. 39 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: And just a note too, before we go any further. 40 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: You can tell by now we're gonna save Van Goh, 41 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: which is the standard American pronunciation. I think the Brits 42 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: have a different way. They say it. Uh, y'all don't 43 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: want to hear us try to save and or however 44 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: it goes. I don't think our throats could. I mean, 45 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: you might find it amusing, but we would just be 46 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: sad when you wrote us and made fun of us. 47 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: So we're just gonna go with what we know. Van 48 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: go So Vincent van Gogh was born in zin Duct 49 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: in the Netherlands March eighteen fifty three, and his father 50 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: was a Dutch reform minister. His mother was a bookseller's daughter, 51 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: and after Vincent was born, they had five more kids, 52 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: and the one to really remember is his younger brother, Theo. 53 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: He turns out to be one of the most important 54 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: figures in Vincent's life. And young Vincent was a pretty 55 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: quiet kid who liked nature. He'd often go out walking 56 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: and wandering, but it was clear that he'd eventually go 57 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: into one of the family businesses, religion or art. So 58 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: at sixteen he was apprentice to his art dealer uncle, 59 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: who worked at the Hague branch of a well respected dealership, 60 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: and it was a good job and Van go eventually 61 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: located in London, learned about the Dutch masters like Rembrandt 62 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: and the contemporary French artists that were selling big at 63 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: the time, people like Jean frescoa Malay, and he also 64 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: grew to love British literature and Victorian culture taste that 65 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: really stuck with him throughout his life. But after working 66 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: in London for two years in Paris for another, Vano 67 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: was really ready to get out of the business. He 68 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: had suffered his first mental breakdown over and unrequited British 69 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: love at this point, and the work of art dealing 70 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: just really didn't suit him, so he started job hopping, 71 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: as as many twenties some things to do. First, he 72 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: was a teacher in England by eighteen seventy seven. Then 73 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: he was a bookseller back in the Netherlands. Then he 74 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: decided to study theology, but quit that in eighteen seventy 75 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: eight to go train as an evangelist in Brussels. He 76 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: eventually left that to become a missionary in southwest Belgium 77 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: and was kind of into it, but he was actually 78 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: so into it and so moved by the poor, impoverished 79 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: people who he worked with and who surrounded him, that 80 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: he gave up all of his worldly possessions, and the 81 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: church thought that was taking things way, way too far 82 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: and dismissed him from his position. Vincent later told an 83 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: acquaintance quote, they think I'm a madman because I wanted 84 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: to be a true Christian. They turned me out like 85 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: a dog, saying that I was causing a scandal. So 86 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: what's this guy gonna do. He's not going to be 87 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: in the art business. He's not going to be a 88 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: preacher or a missionary. What gives. Well, his brother, Theo, 89 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: who at that point was also an art dealer, had 90 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: a few ideas about that. Vengo was twenty seven, and 91 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: Theo encouraged him to become an artist himself. He likes art, 92 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: he's good at it, and so maybe it will suit 93 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: his personality a little better than being a businessman or 94 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 1: a preacher. And as much as van Go's later work 95 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: seemed to be entirely natural, like they were just kind 96 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: of dashed off in a minute, he sets off in 97 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: his art career quite seriously. He plans at first to 98 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: master black and white drawing figures in correct perspective, and 99 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: then he copies prints, He studies drawing manuals, He studied 100 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: drawing at Brussels Academy, though he left after a short time, 101 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: and then in eighteen eighty one he decided he needed 102 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: some formal training, and so he took lessons from his 103 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: cousin Anton Move, a respected Dutch landscape painter, and his 104 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: art dealer uncle even commissioned a couple of drawings from him. 105 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 1: So things seemed to be ramping up a little bit 106 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: with his new career. He was learning a trade, and 107 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty two, Van Gogh made the jump to 108 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: oil paints, moving in eighteen eighty three to a quiet 109 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 1: Netherlands village where he could paint landscapes. You know, still 110 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: does like nature, just like he did when he was 111 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 1: a kid. He can paint peasants there, you know, just 112 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: these bucolic sort of scenes. And when he came home 113 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: to his parents home, which by that point was in 114 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: noon and in the Netherlands, he focused even more on 115 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: these portraits of peasants. During the winter he lived with them, 116 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: he did more than forty studies of peasants heads. And 117 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: I encourage you guys to go and look up some 118 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: of these. If you're I mean, I'm sure you are 119 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: familiar with Van go everybody is, but he might be 120 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: a little surprised if you're not familiar with his early works. 121 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: They're very dark brown and dark green and just sort 122 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: of almost muddy colors. And one of the more famous 123 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: works from this period, called The Potato Eaters, is a 124 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: pretty good place to start, i'd say, for forgetting a 125 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: sense of this dark very unlike van Go van Go style. Yeah, 126 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: you guys should really go check out some of these pictures. 127 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: They aah printed out some for me and they were 128 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: a big help while researching. So Van Go left again 129 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: in eighty five to study at Antwerp Academy, mainly so 130 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: he could see many of Peter Paul Ruben's works, but 131 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: he stayed there only three months before taking off for Paris, 132 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: where Theo was living at the time. And this is 133 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: where Van Go really started to become Van Go. He 134 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: saw the work of the Impressionists in person, he saw 135 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: Japanese prints, he met contemporaries like Enrida to lose Li 136 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: Trek and Paul Goka, and Theo set him up with 137 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: some art world personalities too. He got to meet Camille 138 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: Pizzarro and George Sura, and Van Go's paintings really started 139 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: to incorporate a lot of what he was seeing, so 140 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: for instance, the broken brushwork of Impressionism, sometimes the dots 141 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: of point all is um and just this really bright, 142 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: bright color and light, the kind of things that we 143 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: associate with him today. One great example from this period 144 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: is self portrait with a straw hat. I printed out 145 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: that one too, and it just looks completely different from 146 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: self portraits that he was doing just a year foreig 147 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: in Paris, like you would just think a completely different 148 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: person did it if it was not obviously a portrait 149 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: of the same man. And ironically self portrait with a 150 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: straw hat is done on the back of one of 151 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: those peasant head drawings, and we're gonna talk a little 152 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: bit more about that later. To van Go's frugal nature, 153 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: but this is where he came into his own. But 154 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: after two years in Paris, he was ready to be 155 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: in the countryside again, so he left for Arla, which 156 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: is in southwest France, in February, and all of that 157 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: Paris exposure to color in a lighter palette just turns 158 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: to magic and bright sunny Provence. Van Go paints blooming 159 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:44,680 Speaker 1: fruit trees, fields, cottages and locals like the postman Joseph 160 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: Roulan and his family, and he's clearly inspired by the 161 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: Japanese prince. He did fourteen paintings of orchards in less 162 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: than one month, and his technique just got even bolder 163 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: from there. I mean, just to illustrate this, there's this 164 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: great quote in the Encyclopedia Britannical article out van Go. 165 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: It goes, once hesitant to diverge from the traditional techniques 166 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: of painting he worked so hard to master, he now 167 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: gave free rein to his individuality and began squeezing his 168 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: tubes of oil paint directly on the canvas. But I 169 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 1: love that image too. I mean, just stop and talk 170 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: about that for a minute. I'm imagining Van Go out 171 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: of Paris. You know, he's just mastered it. He's got 172 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,959 Speaker 1: all the technique down and going for it with you know, 173 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: painting and orchard or whatever, and just squeezing the tube 174 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: right out onto the onto the canvas. It sounds fun. 175 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,559 Speaker 1: It does sound fun. It sounds like sort of letting 176 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: go of of conventions almost. But it wasn't all fun 177 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: and games. Van Go had the special hope when he 178 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: came to Arla. He wanted to start an artist commune, 179 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: the studio of the South where piers like Gogan and 180 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: to Lustrek could come and live together and paint. So 181 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: he rented a studio called the Yellow House, and he 182 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: ultimately wrote to THEO so much about when Gogan comes 183 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: that THEO ended up advancing Gogan the money for future 184 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: pieces of unsold art, essentially paying him to go live 185 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,679 Speaker 1: with his brother. So Paula Gun does not really seem 186 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: like the kind of guy you would want to pay 187 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: to go live with your sibling. He seems like a 188 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: pretty unlikely choice for somebody as upbeat and enthusiastic and 189 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: sometimes seriously depressed as van Go was to choose as 190 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: a housemaid. Just to give you a little background on Goga, 191 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: he had abandoned his stockbroker career for art and had 192 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: a reputation of being a bit of a brute. This 193 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: is before the Tahiti phase, but still van Go was 194 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: really pumped about the idea of finally getting his artist 195 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: commune off the ground. And things went okay for a 196 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: little more than a month, with the two men producing 197 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:51,439 Speaker 1: works and getting along reasonably okay. Then trouble struck in 198 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: a really big way. So it was Christmas and just 199 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,079 Speaker 1: to paint the scene a little bit. Van Go had 200 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: been spending a lot of time reading the Christmas Books 201 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: of Charles Dickens, which, if you have read um, probably 202 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 1: the most famous of Dickens Christmas books. You know that 203 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: a lot of times they have to do with a 204 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,559 Speaker 1: guy who has a mental breakdown right around the holidays, 205 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: and not necessarily the most uplifting, no. I mean maybe 206 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: if you go through the end, but you could eventually 207 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: go off track, I think if you read too many 208 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,839 Speaker 1: of them. He was also spending a lot of time 209 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: hanging out with go Gah. So on Christmas Eve, Arlta 210 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,959 Speaker 1: police found Van Go bleeding from his self bandaged head 211 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: in the Yellow House, and that left some questions about 212 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: what on earth happened. So, as the traditional tale goes, 213 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: the night before, Van Go had been talking NonStop to 214 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: go Gan, who couldn't take it anymore and left the house. 215 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: So when Gogan heard his name in the street, he 216 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: turned around to find Van Go hollering and waving around 217 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,959 Speaker 1: a razor. Van Go didn't attack again. Instead, he went home, 218 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: cut off his ear and gave it as a gift 219 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: to a local prostitute named Rachel, telling her quote guardless 220 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: object carefully. She passed out when she opened it, as 221 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 1: many people would, I think. So go Go was interviewed 222 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: by the police about the whole thing, and he told 223 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,119 Speaker 1: them that Van Gogh must have done this to himself. 224 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,280 Speaker 1: And after all the formalities were over, Goga sent a 225 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: telegram to THEO saying you need to get down here immediately, 226 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: and then got out of dodge. He left for Paris 227 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: and did not come back. But a couple of years 228 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: ago another theory emerged. According to Hans Kaufman and Rita Vildegan's, 229 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: who are art historians and who wrote Van Go's Ear, 230 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: Paul Goga and the Pact of Silence, go Get cut 231 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: off Van Go's ear with not a razor but a sword, 232 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 1: and then the two guys decided to keep the whole 233 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: thing secret. Pretty wild twist to this story. Yeah, and 234 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: Adam got Nick actually wrote a great piece on the 235 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: ear mystery for The New Yorker in two thousand ten, 236 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: and he set the scene in his article by noting 237 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,560 Speaker 1: two important facts that we should point out. For one thing, 238 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: Van go despite the lovable nature that comes across in 239 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: his correspondence, would have been quote exhausting to live with, 240 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:13,959 Speaker 1: and I can kind of understand that too. All of 241 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: Van Gogh's correspondence is online, and that's also very neat 242 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 1: to go look at, in addition to looking at pictures 243 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:24,199 Speaker 1: of his paintings. But he sounds really, really nice. But 244 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,679 Speaker 1: if you were with him all the time, that could 245 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: definitely get old. I mean, he describes how the sky 246 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: looks when he's going out on a walk and how 247 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,319 Speaker 1: the trees look and it sounds lovely in a letter, 248 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 1: but maybe if you were living in the Yellow House 249 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: with him, it would get kind of old and be 250 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: too much. Maybe. Well. The other point that got Nick 251 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: made was that go Gan, in addition to being pretty 252 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: mean and scary, was a fantastic fencer who definitely carried 253 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: a foil around in Arlow when he was going out 254 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: at night. Felt self defense. So Kafman and Vildegon's theorized 255 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: that when Van go came near Gogan on the streets, 256 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: shouting and waving a razor, Gogan attacked with the sword, 257 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: accidentally slicing off part of Van Go's ear. Van go 258 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: then picked the bit up and the two agreed to 259 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,959 Speaker 1: an unspoken code of silence. And there's some potential evidence 260 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: out there for this, right, yeah, there seems to be so. 261 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,960 Speaker 1: One is that the wound was clean. It was a slice, 262 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: and let's not imagine too much what it would take 263 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: with a razor in your own ear, but it does 264 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: not seem like it would be a clean job. And 265 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: then another factor to consider is that people who self mutilate, 266 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: sometimes now called van Go syndrome ironically enough, usually go 267 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: for their arms and their hands, and their legs and 268 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: their chest, not their ears, although again god Nick pointed 269 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: out that van Go would have had a better understanding 270 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: of his ears than most people, um since he had 271 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: painted himself so many times already. By this point, another 272 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: piece of potential evidence. The guys, right, these weird hint 273 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: hint sort of things to each other. For example, after 274 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: van Go was sufficiently recovered, he writes to Go again 275 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: that he'll shortly be returning his left behind fencing equipment. 276 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: He says, quote, I'll pluck up the courage in a 277 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: few days. Those terrible engines of war will wait until then. 278 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: I now write to you very calmly, but I haven't 279 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: yet been able to pack up all the rest. And 280 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: the two even have this code word of sorts iktus, 281 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: which means fish if you know, like ich theology or something, 282 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: but it also relates to fencing, meaning a blow or 283 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 1: a hit. And go Gad kind of obsessively writes ittus 284 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: in relation to Van Gogh's name, even placing it inside 285 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 1: of this little ear like squiggle doodle drawing. So some 286 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: sort of strange factors to consider here, and Van go 287 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: makes his own subtle allusions to other people too, not 288 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: just like these two have a strange correspondence. Going on 289 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: to his brother, he writes, happily, go Ga, I and 290 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: other painters aren't yet armed with machine guns and other 291 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: dangerous war our weapons, just swords and razors. I mean, 292 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: it seems like that might be bad enough, right. So 293 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: whatever happened, it majorly shook up Fango. He went back 294 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: to work quickly after leaving the hospital, but he had 295 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 1: to go back in for nerves just a few weeks later. 296 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: To go back to that Gothnic article, there's a quote 297 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: that really illustrates the change that took place inside Van 298 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: go after that incident, a change that affected his whole 299 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: outlook as an artist. The Christmas Crisis had a real, 300 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: if buried effect on Van Gogh's imagination, turning him from 301 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: a dream of living and working with a community of 302 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 1: brother artists to one of painting for an unknown audience 303 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: that might someday appear a fantasy that was, in the 304 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: end and against the odds, not a fantasy at all. Yeah, 305 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: So giving up on this idea of the artist commune 306 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: and and living for the appreciation of his fellow artists, 307 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: you know, all living in harmony together and making work 308 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: and um critiquing each other, and that sort of doesn't 309 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,080 Speaker 1: work if you bring it's not worth giving up on 310 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:08,119 Speaker 1: that and just making art for himself, accepting that or 311 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 1: hoping that you know, eventually somebody will be there to 312 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: appreciate it, which, of course I guess that is us 313 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: now and everybody in the twentieth century. He got really 314 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: into Van Gogh, but by April nine, Van go wasn't 315 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: really recovered mentally from this attack, and he was fearful 316 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: that another major nervous attack could permanently impede his work. 317 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: He really didn't like these things setting him back that way, 318 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: so he voluntarily entered an asylum at Saremie de Provence 319 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: and um just a sad quote for you. Around this time, 320 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: he wrote his sister, and this sort of gives you 321 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: an idea of his state of mind when he is 322 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: voluntarily committing himself to an asylum. He said, every day, 323 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 1: I take the remedy that the incomparable Dickens prescribes against suicide. 324 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: It consists of a glass of wine, a piece of 325 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:01,440 Speaker 1: bread and cheese, and a pipe of tobacco. It isn't complicated, 326 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: you'll tell me. And you don't think that my melancholy 327 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: comes close to that place, however, at moments. But so 328 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: Van Gogh spent twelve months in the asylum, and he 329 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: sometimes had these nervous attacks, and then sometimes he was 330 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 1: really productive. He produced a hundred and fifty canvases, which 331 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: I mean that sounds like a lot to me. And 332 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: when he was first confined to the grounds, he painted 333 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: what he could see. I mean, he'd liked to paint 334 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: from life, so he would do pictures of the walled 335 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 1: guard and the irises and the lilacs in it. He 336 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,120 Speaker 1: would do copies of Dela Croix and Rembrandt, And when 337 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: he was finally allowed more freedom towards the end of 338 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: his day, he painted nearby wheat fields and cypress trees 339 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,440 Speaker 1: and olive trees. A lot of his most famous paintings 340 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: are actually from this period where he is in the institution. 341 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:57,199 Speaker 1: He did portraits of his fellow patients, He did scenes 342 00:18:57,240 --> 00:19:01,679 Speaker 1: inside the hospital. He even did Starring Night at this time, 343 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: and thought that it was a failure, not at all 344 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 1: what he was hoping it would be. The masterpieces hanging 345 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: on so many college freshmans. I mean, I was thinking 346 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: the same thing. So, finally, missing family and home, he 347 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: left the asylum and moved to over sUAS outside of Paris. 348 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: He put himself under the care of an artist friendly 349 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: homeopathic doctor, Paul Ferdinand Gauche, and he got back to 350 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: work with a vengeance. So two of I think your 351 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: favorites from the period, Sarah Thatched Cottages at Cordeville and 352 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: the church at over those were painted during that time. Yeah, 353 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: I really like these ones. They have a nice I 354 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: don't know, they're not quite as yellow and super bright 355 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: as some of the paintings he did in the South 356 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: of France, but they just have this really nice color. 357 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: That Thatched cottage is one has h this pale green 358 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: tone to almost the entire painting, which I mean, I 359 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: know that sounds weird, but it ends up being quite 360 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: love so he's again producing a lot of work. But 361 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 1: then in July, perhaps over guilt relating to his financial 362 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: dependency on his brother, or just another attack seizing him, 363 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,639 Speaker 1: he shot himself in the chest in a wheat field, 364 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: and it took Vango two days to die, so there 365 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: was a lot of time to talk to people about 366 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 1: what had happened. He spoke with the police, he met 367 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,880 Speaker 1: with THEO and when the police first taught to him, 368 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: he said, quote, I shot myself. I only hope I 369 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: hadn't botched it. What I've done is nobody else's business. 370 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: I'm free to do what I like with my own body. 371 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:42,159 Speaker 1: When he was examined by a doctor who said that 372 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 1: the bullet couldn't be removed, he was asked if he 373 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: had tried to commit suicide. Vango responded, I believe, so 374 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: don't accuse anybody else, which sounds a little bit suspicious. It's, 375 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: on the one hand, definitive and then yeah, also kind 376 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: of strange. It leaves it open, I guess, which makes 377 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,120 Speaker 1: way for new theories like this one that suggests that 378 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: van Go didn't really commit suicide but was murdered. It's 379 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: part of a biography by Gregory white Smith and Stephen Nafa. 380 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: The author suggest that two teens visiting for the summer 381 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: accidentally shot Van Go and that he admitted suicide to 382 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:23,119 Speaker 1: protect them. Their reasons for thinking this or that. For 383 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: one thing, the gun was never found, nor were Van 384 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 1: Gogh's painting supplies. Also, the wheat field was a mile 385 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: outside of town, which is really far to go if 386 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,879 Speaker 1: you're shot in the chest. Definitely. And then finally, one 387 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: of the boys, Renee Secotan, admitted in nineteen fifty six 388 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: that yes, he and his brother had borrowed the gun 389 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,399 Speaker 1: from a or borrowed a gun from a local business owner. 390 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 1: And yes, they also often bullied Van go they'd even 391 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: send their girlfriends over to hit on kind of shy, 392 00:21:54,560 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: awkward vincent and um really embarrass him. But they admit 393 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: to actually shooting Van Go kind of an important distinction. 394 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: In fact, um, this guy said that the artist stole 395 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: a gun and the boys hadn't even been in town 396 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,680 Speaker 1: when the suicide took place. So there is kind of 397 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 1: strange things going on here, but also not really definitive information. 398 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,120 Speaker 1: But according to a recent article in art Info France, 399 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: the Van go Museum isn't changing its story, so they're 400 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: not going along with with a new theory quite yet. 401 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: Leo Johnson, who's the curator at the museum, says, quote, 402 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: we do agree with the authors that there are many 403 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: unanswered questions regarding van Go's death. It's just that at 404 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: this point we feel there's not enough evidence to prove 405 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 1: the new interpretation, and therefore we find it's too early 406 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 1: to abandon suicide as the cause of death. So who knows, 407 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: I mean, maybe we'll get more information on this in 408 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: the near future. We've learned that um cold cases that 409 00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,440 Speaker 1: are hundreds of years old can be solved sometimes true. 410 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: But what about his legacy After his sunflower filled funeral 411 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: and over, van Go finally started to become famous. It's 412 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,639 Speaker 1: a well known saying that van Go produced nine hundred 413 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,600 Speaker 1: paintings and one thousand one works on paper and only 414 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 1: sold one painting. In his lifetime. Only one article had 415 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: been written about him. But that gives the false sense 416 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 1: that van Go was just completely unknown, which is not 417 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 1: the case right. No, people who could see his work 418 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: did often like it. Guys like Monet and Goga and 419 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 1: bizarre thought that it was fantastic, thought that he was 420 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 1: a really, really great artist, but his fame hadn't spread yet, 421 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: word hadn't spread, or taste for his work hadn't spread. 422 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,120 Speaker 1: So THEO, who was a successful art dealer, had been 423 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: trying to promote his brother's work for years. I mean, 424 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: in addition to supporting him financially, he was kind of 425 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 1: his champion in the art world. He had absolute faith 426 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,879 Speaker 1: in him. And really tragically, he died just a few 427 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: months after Vincent, and Pat stun that that faith in 428 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: Vincent's work to his widow, Joanna, who had a baby 429 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: son also named Vincent, to support. So it's Joanna also 430 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:15,199 Speaker 1: known as Joe for short, who really came to to 431 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,919 Speaker 1: be the van Go champion. After his death. She called 432 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,360 Speaker 1: on her family and her husband's art contacts and started 433 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: showing the pieces. She followed Theo's advice to keep the 434 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: works together, to not just sell them off piece by 435 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:32,400 Speaker 1: piece to whoever came along looking. And I think this 436 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: is a remarkable fact that as late as nineteen o 437 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,360 Speaker 1: six she could still show a complete set of van 438 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: Go works, and his work influenced the German expressionists. His 439 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: published correspondence gave folks all sorts of insight into his 440 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 1: life and his technique, and they're really lovely. They're filled 441 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: with sketches, their poetic they're incredibly friendly. As you said before, 442 00:24:55,119 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: and as we've made quite clear, his life is perfect 443 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: for research by professionals of all discipline. Psychologists have tried 444 00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:04,679 Speaker 1: to diagnose him. Some say that he had epilepsy, some 445 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,359 Speaker 1: say schizophrenia, some say that Vincent THEO and his sister 446 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: may have all had an inherited metabolic disorder. Yeah, but 447 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 1: there's also lots of modern research taking place around his work, 448 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: so not just his life. Two of my favorite examples 449 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 1: of this are really sort of science high tech like. 450 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 1: One is that there's a Cornell electrical engineering professor named 451 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: see Richard Johnson Jr. Who has used computer algorithms to 452 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: create weave density maps of van Go's canvases. So the 453 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: density of the thread patterns lets historians know if one 454 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: painting was made from the same role of canvas as another, 455 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,439 Speaker 1: so you could tell that, um, a certain work is 456 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: authentic because it was made right next to a known work, 457 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: or maybe a certain work is a fraud because it 458 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: doesn't match the density patterns at all. And then probably 459 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 1: the most helpful thing here, it helps art historians placed 460 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: the paintings in the order they were made because they 461 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 1: can tell well that canvas was right next to the other. 462 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:10,120 Speaker 1: He probably painted them around the same time, and according 463 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 1: to a work published on Van Go and analytical chemistry, 464 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: chemists figured out the reason why some of Vang's brilliant 465 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 1: chrome yellows have faded over the years. By using UV 466 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,680 Speaker 1: light and simulating the aging process of old paint. They 467 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: found that chromium oxidized when it was mixed with a 468 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,679 Speaker 1: chemical ingredient often found in the white pigment, lithopone. So 469 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,160 Speaker 1: they figured he must have stretched his yellow paint with 470 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,360 Speaker 1: white and unknowingly created a problem for conservators down the road. 471 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,439 Speaker 1: And I thought that was such an interesting piece of 472 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: news because it helped answer a question that I had had, 473 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: which was how did Van Go eat, pay his rent, 474 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: live and buy what are usually pretty expensive supplies I 475 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: mean oil paints and canvases with expensive stuff with no job. 476 00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 1: So THEO obviously supported him contributed um much of the 477 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: money that Van Go used to live, but Van Gol 478 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,439 Speaker 1: was clearly penny pinching too, so like painting over the 479 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,680 Speaker 1: old canvases, we mentioned that historians have figured that a 480 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: huge number of Vano's paintings probably do have other paintings 481 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 1: underneath them, and then even going as far as to 482 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: stretch his paint I think it's it's interesting. It is, 483 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: but considering all the support that THEO gave Vincent, it's 484 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: probably appropriate that in nineteen fourteen, Theo's remains were relocated 485 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: to rest near Vincent's, so anyone stopping to pay respects 486 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: to the artist can also visit the grave of his 487 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: tireless supporter. I think that's so appropriate somebody who had 488 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: just total faith in his and his family member and 489 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 1: turned out to be right, even though neither of them 490 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,120 Speaker 1: got to see it unfortunately. So UM I had fun 491 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,200 Speaker 1: researching this, and for those of you who are interested 492 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 1: in learning more, there's so much. I mean, obviously go 493 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: look at um pictures, either in museums of course or online. 494 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: But the Trova letters is so fun. I mean I 495 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: just looked at random ones, picking different letters to different 496 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,439 Speaker 1: correspondence from different time periods, and I think it really 497 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,199 Speaker 1: helped give me a better sense of what kind of 498 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: person van Go was. So I highly recommend that. And 499 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: I also want to thank Rosie for suggesting this topic 500 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,959 Speaker 1: to us it was a fun one. It definitely was. 501 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: And if you have any more topics like this that 502 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: you want to share with us, or maybe you just 503 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:28,640 Speaker 1: you want to write in and share your favorite works 504 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: of van Go with us and let us know what 505 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,400 Speaker 1: your favorites are. You can write us at history podcast 506 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: at how stuff Works dot com, or you can look 507 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 1: us up on Facebook or we're on Twitter at myston History. 508 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: And we also have a load of art related articles, 509 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: how Cube is and works, How's the Realism works, how 510 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,920 Speaker 1: pathe works. Unfortunately don't have van Go, not yet at 511 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: least so um you can check out any of those though. 512 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: In the meantime they are in the entertainment section and 513 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: you can find that by visiting our homepage at www 514 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 1: dot how stuff works dot com. Be sure to check 515 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join 516 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: how Stop Work staff as we explore the most promising 517 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The House stepp Works iPhone 518 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: app has arrived. Download it today on iTunes.