1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. We've gotten a few requests recently from listeners 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: asking for an episode on Vincent van Go, and this 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: is one of those cases where I really envy previous 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,920 Speaker 1: hosts of the show because I really love his artwork. 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 1: I would love to do an episode on him, but 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: Sarah and Bablina already did, wondering their tenure as hosts 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: in That episode came out on November eleven, But that 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: also means that this episode is more than a decade old, 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,800 Speaker 1: and awareness of some of the preferred language regarding things 10 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: like alcohol, misuse, sex work, and suicide has evolved a 11 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: little bit since this was recorded, so keep that in mind. 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 1: They're also continues to be discussion around Van Goh's cause 13 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: of death, which is brought up at the end of 14 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: the episode, for example, whether Van Got did take his 15 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: own life or whether he was killed. One of the 16 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: more recent developments in that discussion is a paper published 17 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. The 18 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: paper came out in and that calls for the exhamation 19 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: and autopsy of vang Go to settle the question. So 20 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: enjoy the episode. Welcome to Stuff you missed in history class. 21 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: A production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to 22 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm debling a chuk reboarding. 23 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: And it seems like van Go has been in the 24 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: news kind of a lot lately. But when I thought 25 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: about it, I realized van Go is always in the news, 26 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: isn't he. He is. In fact, you'll see something about 27 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: his latest record breaking sale, or show his hidden works, 28 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,279 Speaker 1: like paintings that are revealed under paintings through X rays. 29 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: Love those because it's like there's seriously a secret hidden 30 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: painting underneath another van Go. And then sometimes there's news 31 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,120 Speaker 1: about frauds too, and that's always kind of exciting in 32 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: its own weird way. But van Go news isn't always 33 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: all about art. Sometimes it's about the man. And that's 34 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: partly because the man is what we've come to see 35 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: is the epitome of the tortured artist almost even though 36 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: we've talked about some other I think really strong contenders 37 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: on this podcast, like Caravaggio and Michelangelo, but Vankoh just 38 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: has this really compelling life, and I think part of 39 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: it has to do with the fact that there are 40 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: so many opposites involved in in what he did. And 41 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: who he was. He was an immensely talented artist, but 42 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: almost totally unrecognized in his own lifetime. He was an 43 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: incredibly warm person, but also mentally unstable and alcoholic. He 44 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: was a devoted letter writer, but also the kind of 45 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,799 Speaker 1: guy who cuts off his own ear, wraps it up 46 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: like a present, and gives it as a Christmas gift 47 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: to a prostitute. We're going to talk about that kind 48 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: of kind of like a letter delivering something. It sends 49 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: a message. I am sure about that. Um so yeah, 50 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: I mean, he's just got so much going on. He's 51 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,119 Speaker 1: he makes a really interesting figure. So it's not too 52 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: surprising that people are still analyzing Van Gogh's health, his 53 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: mental state, and even his cause of death, which was 54 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: long believed to be suicide. And they're coming up with 55 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: new ideas all the time. So we'll talk about the 56 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: man and his art, but we'll also talk about some 57 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: of the more recent theories about his life, as well 58 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: as the high tech advancements in studying his paintings. And 59 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: just a note too, before we go any further. You 60 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: can tell by now we're gonna save van go which 61 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: is the standard American pronunciation. I think the Brits have 62 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: a different way. They say it. Uh, y'all don't want 63 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: to hear us try to save and or however it goes. 64 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: I don't think our throats could. I mean, you might 65 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: find it amusing, but we would just be sad when 66 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:46,119 Speaker 1: you wrote us and made fun of us. So we're 67 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: just going to go with what we know. Van go 68 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: So Vincent van Gogh was born in zin Duct in 69 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: the Netherlands March eighteen fifty three, and his father was 70 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: a Dutch reform minister. His mother was a bookseller's dog 71 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: her and after Vincent was born, they had five more kids, 72 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: and the one to really remember is his younger brother, Theo. 73 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: He turns out to be one of the most important 74 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: figures in Vincent's life. And young Vincent was a pretty 75 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: quiet kid who liked nature. He'd often go out walking 76 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: and wandering, but it was clear that he'd eventually go 77 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: into one of the family businesses, religion or art. So 78 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: at sixteen he was apprentice to his art dealer uncle, 79 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: who worked at the Hague branch of a well respected dealership. 80 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,839 Speaker 1: And it was a good job and Van go eventually 81 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: located in London, learned about the Dutch masters like Rembrandt 82 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: and the contemporary French artists that were selling big at 83 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: the time, people like Jean Francois Malay. And he also 84 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: grew to love British literature and Victorian culture taste that 85 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: really stuck with him throughout his life. But after working 86 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 1: in London for two years in Paris for another van 87 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: Go was really ready to get out of the business. 88 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: He had suffered his first mental breakdown over and unrequited 89 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: British love at this point, and the work of art 90 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: dealing just really didn't suit him, so he started job hopping, 91 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: as as many twentiesome things do. First he was a 92 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: teacher in England. By eighteen seventy seven he was a 93 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: bookseller back in the Netherlands. Then he decided to study theology, 94 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: but quit that in eighteen seventy eight to go train 95 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: as an evangelist in Brussels. He eventually left that to 96 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: become a missionary in southwest Belgium and was kind of 97 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 1: into it, but he was actually so into it and 98 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: so moved by the poor, impoverished people who he worked 99 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: with and who surrounded him, that he gave up all 100 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: of his worldly possessions and the church thought that was 101 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: taking things way, way too far, and dismissed him from 102 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: his position. Vincent later told an acquaintance quote, they think 103 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: I'm a madman because I wanted to be a true Christian. 104 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: They turned me out like a dog, saying that I 105 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: was causing a scandal. So what's this guy gonna do. 106 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: He's not going to be in the art business. He's 107 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: not going to be a preacher or a missionary. What 108 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: gives Well, his brother, Theo, who at that point was 109 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: also an art dealer, had a few ideas about that. 110 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: Van Go was twenty seven, and Theo encouraged him to 111 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: become an artist himself. He likes art, he's good at it, 112 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: and so maybe it will suit his personality a little 113 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: better than being a businessman or a preacher. And as 114 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 1: much as van Go's later work seemed to be entirely natural, 115 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: like they were just kind of dashed off in a minute, 116 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: he sets off in his art career quite seriously. He 117 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: plans at first to master black and white drawing figures 118 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: in correct perspective, and then he copies prints. He studies 119 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: drawing manuals. He studied drawing at Brussels Academy, though he 120 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: left after a short time, and then in one he 121 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: decided he needed some formal training, and so he took 122 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: lessons from his cousin Anton Mauve, a respected Dutch landscape painter, 123 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: and his art dealer uncle even commissioned a couple of 124 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: drawings from him. So things seemed to be ramping up 125 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: a little bit with his new career. He was learning 126 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: a trade, and in eighteen eighty two van Go made 127 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: the jump to oil paints, moving in eighteen eighty three 128 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: to a quiet Netherlands village where he could paint landscapes. 129 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: And he still does like nature, just like he did 130 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: when he was a kid. He can paint peasants there, 131 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: you know, just these bucolic sort of scenes. And when 132 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: he came home to his parents home, which by that 133 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: point was in Noonan in the Netherlands, he focused even 134 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: more on these portraits of peasants. During the winter he 135 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: lived with them, he did more than forty studies of 136 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: peasants heads. And I encourage you guys to go and 137 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: look up some of these if you're I mean, I'm 138 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: sure you are familiar with van Go. Everybody is, but 139 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: you might be a little surprised if you're not familiar 140 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: with his early works. They're very dark brown and dark 141 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: green and just sort of almost muddy colors. And one 142 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: of the more famous works from this period, called The 143 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: Potato Eaters, is a pretty good place to start, i'd say, 144 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: for forgetting a sense of this dark very unlike van 145 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: Go van Go style. Yeah, you guys should really go 146 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: check out some of these pictures. Sarah printed out some 147 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: for me and they were a big help while researching. 148 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: So Van Go left again in eighty five to study 149 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: at Antwerp Academy, mainly so he could see many of 150 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: Peter Paul Ruben's works, but he stayed there only three 151 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: months before taking off for Paris, where Theo was living 152 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: at the time. And this is where Van Go really 153 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: started to become van Go. He saw the work of 154 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: the Impressionists in person, he saw Japanese prints, he met 155 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: contemporaries like Enrida to Lose the Track and Paul Goga, 156 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: and Theo set him up with some art world personalities too. 157 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: He got to meet Camille Pizzarro and George Sura, and 158 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: Van Go's paintings really started to incorporate a lot of 159 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:48,559 Speaker 1: what he was seeing. So, for instance, The Broken brushwork 160 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: of Impressionism. Sometimes the dots of point all is um 161 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 1: and just this really bright, bright color and light, the 162 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: kind of things that we associate with him today. One 163 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 1: great example from this pi it is self portrait with 164 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: a straw hat. I printed out that one too, and 165 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: it just looks completely different from self portraits that he 166 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: was doing just a year before in Paris, like you 167 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: would just think a completely different person did it if 168 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 1: it was not obviously a portrait of the same man. 169 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: And ironically self portrait with a straw hat is done 170 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: on the back of one of those peasant head drawings, 171 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: and we're gonna talk a little bit more about that later. 172 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: To van Go's frugal nature, but this is where he 173 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: came into his own. But after two years in Paris, 174 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: he was ready to be in the countryside again, so 175 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: he left for Arla, which is in southwest France, in February, 176 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: and all of that Paris exposure to color and a 177 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: lighter palette just turns to magic and bright sunny Provence. 178 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,439 Speaker 1: Van Go paints blooming fruit trees, fields, cottages and locals 179 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: like the postman Joseph Roulan and his family, and he's 180 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 1: clearly inspired by the Japanese prince. He did fourteen paintings 181 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: of orchards in less than one month, and his technique 182 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: just got even bolder from there. I mean, just to 183 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 1: illustrate this, there's this great quote in the Encyclopedia Britannical 184 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: article about Van Goh. It goes, once hesitant to diverge 185 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:25,760 Speaker 1: from the traditional techniques of painting he worked so hard 186 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: to master, he now gave free rein to his individuality 187 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: and began squeezing his tubes of oil paint directly on 188 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: the canvas. But I love that image too. I mean, 189 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: just stop and talk about that for a minute. I'm 190 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: imagining Vandergo out of Paris. You know, he's just mastered it. 191 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:45,199 Speaker 1: He's got all the technique down and going for it 192 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: when you know, painting and orchard or whatever, and just 193 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: squeezing the tube right out onto the onto the canvas. 194 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: It sounds fun. It does sound fun. It sounds like 195 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: sort of letting go of of conventions almost. But it 196 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 1: wasn't all fun and games. Van Go had the special 197 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: hope when he came to Arla. He wanted to start 198 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: an artist commune, the studio of the South, where peers 199 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 1: like Gogan and to Lustrek could come and live together 200 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: and paint. So he rented a studio called the Yellow House, 201 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: and he ultimately wrote to THEO so much about when 202 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: Gogan comes that THEO ended up advancing Gogan the money 203 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: for future pieces of unsold art, essentially paying him to 204 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 1: go live with his brother. So Paula Gun does not 205 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: really seem like the kind of guy you would want 206 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: to pay to go live with your sibling. He seems 207 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: like a pretty unlikely choice for somebody as upbeat and 208 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: enthusiastic and sometimes seriously depressed as Vano was to choose 209 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: as a housemaid. Just to give you a little background, 210 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: and Goga, he had abandoned his stockbroker career for art 211 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: and had a reputation of being a bit of a brute. 212 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: This is before the Tahiti phase, but still van Go 213 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: was really pumped about the idea of finally getting his 214 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: artist commune off the ground. And things went okay for 215 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: a little more than a month with the two men 216 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: producing works and getting along reasonably okay. Then trouble struck 217 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:14,880 Speaker 1: in a really big way. So it was Christmas, and 218 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: just to paint the scene a little bit, van Go 219 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: had been spending a lot of time reading the Christmas 220 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: Books of Charles Dickens, which, if you have read um, 221 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 1: probably the most famous of Dickens Christmas books. You know 222 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: that a lot of times they have to do with 223 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: a guy who has a mental breakdown right around the holidays, 224 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: and not necessarily the most uplifting. No. I mean maybe 225 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:39,199 Speaker 1: if you go through the end, but you could eventually 226 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: go off track, I think if you read too many 227 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: of them. He was also spending a lot of time 228 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: hanging out with Go Gah. So on Christmas Eve, Arla 229 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: police found Van Go bleeding from his self bandaged head 230 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: in the Yellow House, and that left some questions about 231 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: what on earth happened. So the traditional tale goes the 232 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: night before, Van Go had been talking NonStop to Gogan, 233 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: who couldn't take it anymore and left the house. So 234 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: when Gogan heard his name in the street, he turned 235 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 1: around to find van Go hollereen and waving around a razor. 236 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: Van Go didn't attack Go again. Instead, he went home, 237 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: cut off his ear and gave it as a gift 238 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: to a local prostitute named Rachel, telling her quote guardless 239 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: object carefully. She passed out when she opened it. As 240 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: many people would, I think so go Go was interviewed 241 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: by the police about the whole thing, and he told 242 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,199 Speaker 1: them that Van Gogh must have done this to himself. 243 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: And after all the formalities were over, Goga sent a 244 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,239 Speaker 1: telegram to THEO saying you need to get down here immediately, 245 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 1: and then got out of dodge. He left for Paris 246 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: and did not come back. But a couple of years 247 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:54,239 Speaker 1: ago another theory emerged. According to Hans Kaufman and Rita Vildegan's, 248 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: who are art historians and who wrote Van Go's Ear, 249 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: Paul Goga and the Pact of Silence, Go get cut 250 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 1: off Van goes ear with not a razor but a sword, 251 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: and then the two guys decided to keep the whole 252 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: thing secret. Pretty wild twist to this story. Yeah, and 253 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: Adam Gopnik actually wrote a great piece on the Ear 254 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: mystery for The New Yorker in two thousand ten, and 255 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: he set the scene in his article by noting two 256 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: important facts that we should point out. For one thing, 257 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: Van go despite the lovable nature that comes across in 258 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: his correspondence, would have been quote exhausting to live with. 259 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: And I can kind of understand that too. All of 260 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,880 Speaker 1: Van Go's correspondence is online and that's also very neat 261 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: to go look at, in addition to looking at pictures 262 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: of his paintings. But he sounds really, really nice, but 263 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: if you were with him all the time, that could 264 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: definitely get old. I mean, he describes how the sky 265 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: looks when he's going out on a walk and how 266 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: the trees look and it sounds lovely in a letter, 267 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: but maybe if you were living in the Yellow House 268 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: with him, it would get kind of old, be too much. Maybe. Well. 269 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: The other point that got Nick made was that go Gan, 270 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: in addition to being pretty mean and scary, was a 271 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: fantastic fencer who definitely carried a foil around in Arlow 272 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: when he was going out at night. Felt self defense. 273 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: So Kaufman and Vildegon's theorized that when van Go came 274 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: near Gogan on the street, shouting and waving a razor, 275 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: Gogan attacked with the sword, accidentally slicing off part of 276 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: Van Go's ear. Van Go then picked the bit up 277 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: and the two agreed to an unspoken code of silence. 278 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: And there's some potential evidence out there for this, right, yeah, 279 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: there seems to be. So one is that the wound 280 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: was clean. It was a slice, and let's not imagine 281 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 1: too much what it would take with a razor in 282 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: your own ear. But it does not seem like it 283 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: would be a clean job. And then another factor to 284 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 1: consider is that people who self mutilate, sometimes now called 285 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: van go syndrome ironically enough, usually go for their arms 286 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: and their hands, and their legs and their chest, not 287 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: their ears, although again got Nick pointed out that van 288 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: go would have had a better understanding of his ears 289 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: than most people, um since he had painted himself so 290 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: many times already. By this point another piece of potential evidence. 291 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: The guys, right, these weird hint hint sort of things 292 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: to each other. For example, after van Gogh is sufficiently recovered, 293 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: he writes to go Agin that he'll shortly be returning 294 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: his left behind fencing equipment. He says, quote, I'll pluck 295 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: up the courage in a few days. Those terrible engines 296 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: of war will wait until then. I now write to 297 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 1: you very calmly, but I haven't yet been able to 298 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: pack up all the rest. And the two even have 299 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: this code word of sorts ittus, which means fish, if 300 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: you know, like theology or something. But it also relates 301 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: to fencing meaning a blow or a hit, and go 302 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: Gad kind of obsessively writes ittus in relation to Van 303 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: Gogh's name, even placing it inside of this little ear 304 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: like squiggle doodle drawing. So some sort of strange factors 305 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: to consider here, and Van go makes his own subtle 306 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,880 Speaker 1: allusions to other people too, not just like these two 307 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,880 Speaker 1: have a strange correspondence. Going on to his brother, he writes, happily, 308 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,919 Speaker 1: go Ga, I and other painters aren't yet armed with 309 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: machine guns and other dangerous war weapons, just swords and razors. 310 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,880 Speaker 1: I mean, seems like that might be bad enough, right. 311 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: So whatever happened, it majorly shook up Van go He 312 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: went back to work quickly after leaving the hospital, but 313 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: he had to go back in for nerves just a 314 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: few weeks later. To go back to that Gothnic article, 315 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: there's a quote that really illustrates the change that took 316 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: place inside Van go after that incident, a change that 317 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: affected his whole outlook as an artist. The Christmas Crisis 318 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: had a real, if buried effect on Van Gogh's imagination, 319 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: turning him from a dream of living and working with 320 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,159 Speaker 1: a community of brother artists to one of painting for 321 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: an unknown audience that might someday appear a fantasy that was, 322 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:04,920 Speaker 1: in the end and against the odds, not a fantasy 323 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: at all. Yeah, So giving up on this idea of 324 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: the artist commune and and living for the appreciation of 325 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: his fellow artists, you know, all living in harmony together 326 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: and making work and um, critiquing each other and that 327 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: sort of do it's not worth giving up on that 328 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: and just making art for himself, accepting that or hoping that, 329 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:30,840 Speaker 1: you know, eventually somebody will be there to appreciate it, which, 330 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,879 Speaker 1: of course I guess that is us now and everybody 331 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,640 Speaker 1: in the twentieth century. He got really into Van Gogh, 332 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: but by April nine, van Gogh wasn't really recovered mentally 333 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,800 Speaker 1: from this attack, and he was fearful that another major 334 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: nervous attack could permanently impede his work. He really didn't 335 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: like these things setting him back that way, so he 336 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: voluntarily entered an asylum at Saremie de Provence and um 337 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,199 Speaker 1: just a sad quote for you. Around this time he 338 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: wrote his sister, and this sort of gives you an 339 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,360 Speaker 1: idea of his state of mind when he is voluntarily 340 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,199 Speaker 1: committing himself to an asylum. He said, every day, I 341 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: take the remedy that the incomparable Dickens prescribes against suicide. 342 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: It consists of a glass of wine, a piece of 343 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: bread and cheese, and a pipe of tobacco. It isn't complicated, 344 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,160 Speaker 1: you'll tell me. And you don't think that my melancholy 345 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: comes close to that place, however, at moments. But so 346 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: van Go spent twelve months in the asylum, and he 347 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 1: sometimes had these nervous attacks, and then sometimes he was 348 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: really productive. He produced a hundred and fifty canvases, which 349 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: I mean that sounds like a lot to me. And 350 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: when he was first confined to the grounds, he painted 351 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:49,879 Speaker 1: what he could see. I mean, he'd liked to paint 352 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: from life, so he would do pictures of the walled 353 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: guard and the irises and the lilacs in it. He 354 00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,199 Speaker 1: would do copies of dela QoI and Rembrandt, And when 355 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,919 Speaker 1: he was finally allowed more freedom, towards the end of 356 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: his day, he painted nearby wheat fields and cypress trees 357 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: and olive trees. A lot of his most famous paintings 358 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 1: are actually from this period where he is in the institution. 359 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: He did portraits of his fellow patients. He did scenes 360 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,200 Speaker 1: inside the hospital. He even did The Starring Night at 361 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: this time, and thought that it was a failure, not 362 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: at all what he was hoping. It would be the 363 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,880 Speaker 1: masterpiece that's hanging on so many college freshmans. I mean, 364 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:39,679 Speaker 1: I was thinking the same thing. So, finally, missing family 365 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,920 Speaker 1: and home, he left the asylum and moved to over 366 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 1: sUAS outside of Paris. He put himself under the care 367 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:50,479 Speaker 1: of an artist friendly homeopathic doctor, Paul Ferdinand Gauche, and 368 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: he got back to work with a Vengeance. So two 369 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,359 Speaker 1: of I think your favorites from the period, Sarah Thatch 370 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 1: cottages at Cordeville and the church at Overre those were 371 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: painted during that time. Yeah, I really like these ones. 372 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: They have a nice I don't know, they're not quite 373 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: as yellow and super bright as some of the paintings 374 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: he did in the south of France, but they just 375 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,400 Speaker 1: have this really nice color. That Thatched cottage as one 376 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: has a this pale green tone to almost the entire painting, 377 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:24,679 Speaker 1: which I mean, I know that sounds weird, but it 378 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: ends up being quite lovely. So he's again producing a 379 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:34,639 Speaker 1: lot of work. But then in July, perhaps over guilt 380 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: relating to his financial dependency on his brother, or just 381 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 1: another attack seizing him. He shot himself in the chest 382 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: in a wheat field, and it took van Go two 383 00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:48,879 Speaker 1: days to die, so there was a lot of time 384 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 1: to talk to people about what had happened. He spoke 385 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: with the police, he met with THEO and when the 386 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 1: police first taught to him, he said, quote, I shot myself. 387 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 1: I only hope I hadn't bought sed it. What I've 388 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: done is nobody else's business. I'm free to do what 389 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,119 Speaker 1: I like with my own body. And when he was 390 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: examined by a doctor who said that the bullet couldn't 391 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: be removed, he was asked if he had tried to 392 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: commit suicide. Van Go responded, I believe, so don't accuse 393 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: anybody else, which sounds a little bit suspicious. It's on 394 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: the one hand, definitive and then yeah, also kind of strange. 395 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 1: It leaves it open, I guess, which makes way for 396 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 1: new theories like this one that suggests that van Go 397 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 1: didn't really commit suicide but was murdered. It's part of 398 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: a biography by Gregory white Smith and Stephen Nafa. The 399 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 1: authors suggest that two teens visiting for the summer accidentally 400 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: shot van Go and that he admitted suicide to protect them. 401 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 1: Their reasons for thinking this or that. For one thing, 402 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 1: the gun was never found, nor were Van Gogh's painting supplies. Also, 403 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,120 Speaker 1: the wheat field was a mile outside of town, which 404 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: is really far to go if you're shot in the chest. Finitely. 405 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: And then finally, one of the boys, Rene Secoton, admitted 406 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six that yes, he and his brother 407 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:11,240 Speaker 1: had borrowed the gun from a or borrowed a gun 408 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: from a local business owner. And yes, they also often 409 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,200 Speaker 1: bullied Van go they'd even send their girlfriends over to 410 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: hit on kind of shy, awkward Vincent and um really 411 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: embarrass him. But they didn't admit to actually shooting Van Go. 412 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: Kind of an important distinction. In fact, um, this guy 413 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: said that the artist stole the gun and the boys 414 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: hadn't even been in town when the suicide took place. 415 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 1: So there is kind of strange things going on here, 416 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: but also not really definitive information. But according to a 417 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: recent article in art Info France, the Van Go Museum 418 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,959 Speaker 1: isn't changing its story, so they're not going along with 419 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,719 Speaker 1: with a new theory quite yet. Leo Johnson, who's the 420 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: curator at the museum, says, quote, we do agree with 421 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: the there's that there are many unanswered questions regarding Van 422 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: God's death. It's just that at this point we feel 423 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,199 Speaker 1: there's not enough evidence to prove the new interpretation, and 424 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:12,880 Speaker 1: therefore we find it's too early to abandon suicide as 425 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,320 Speaker 1: the cause of death. So who knows, I mean, maybe 426 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: we'll get more information on this in the near future. 427 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: We've learned that m cold cases that are hundreds of 428 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 1: years old can be solved, sometimes very true. But what 429 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,360 Speaker 1: about his legacy? After his sunflower filled funeral and overre 430 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,440 Speaker 1: Van Go finally started to become famous. It's a well 431 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 1: known saying that Van Go produced nine hundred paintings and 432 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,360 Speaker 1: one thousand one works on paper and only sold one painting. 433 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: In his lifetime. Only one article had been written about him. 434 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,679 Speaker 1: But that gives the false sense that Van Goh was 435 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,359 Speaker 1: just completely unknown, which is not the case right. No, 436 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: people who could see his work did often like it. 437 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,919 Speaker 1: Guess like Monet and Goga and Bizarro thought that it 438 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: was fantastic, thought that he was a really, really great artist, 439 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 1: but his fame hadn't spread yet. Word hadn't spread, or 440 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: taste for his work hadn't spread. So THEO, who was 441 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,840 Speaker 1: a successful art dealer, had been trying to promote his 442 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: brother's work for years. I mean, in addition to supporting 443 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: him financially. He was kind of his champion in the 444 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: art world. He had absolute faith in him. And really tragically, 445 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 1: he died just a few months after Vincent and passed 446 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: on that that faith in Vincent's work to his widow, Joanna, 447 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: who had a baby son also named Vincent, to support. 448 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:39,400 Speaker 1: So it's Joanna also known as Joe for short, who 449 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: really came to to be the Van Gogh champion. After 450 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: his death, she called on her family and her husband's 451 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: art contacts and started showing the pieces. She followed Theo's 452 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: advice to keep the works together, to not just sell 453 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,719 Speaker 1: them off piece by piece to whoever came along looking. 454 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 1: And I think this is a remark couple fact, but 455 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 1: as late as nineteen o six she could still show 456 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: a complete set of Van go works, and his work 457 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:12,119 Speaker 1: influenced the German expressionists. His published correspondence gave folks all 458 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,360 Speaker 1: sorts of insight into his life and his technique, and 459 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: they're really lovely they're filled with sketches, they're poetic, they're 460 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: incredibly friendly. As you said before, and as we've made 461 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: quite clear, his life is perfect for research by professionals 462 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: of all disciplines. Psychologists have tried to diagnose him. Some 463 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 1: say that he had epilepsy, some say schizophrenia, Some say 464 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: that Vincent THEO and his sister may have all had 465 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: an inherited metabolic disorder. Yeah, but there's also lots of 466 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 1: modern research taking place around his works. They're not just 467 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,120 Speaker 1: his life. Two of my favorite examples of this are 468 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,679 Speaker 1: really sort of science e high tech like. One is 469 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: that there's a Cornell electrical engineering professor named ce Richard 470 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: Johnson Jr. Who has used computer algorithms to create We've 471 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,359 Speaker 1: dense the maps of van Go's canvases, so the density 472 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: of the thread patterns lets historians know if one painting 473 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 1: was made from the same role of canvas as another, 474 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: so you could tell that, um, a certain work is 475 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: authentic because it was made right next to a known work, 476 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: or maybe a certain work is a fraud because it 477 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:25,320 Speaker 1: doesn't match the density patterns at all. And then probably 478 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 1: the most helpful thing here, it helps art historians place 479 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,199 Speaker 1: the paintings in the order they were made. Because they 480 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,680 Speaker 1: can tell well that canvas was right next to the other, 481 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,720 Speaker 1: he probably painted them around the same time, and according 482 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,639 Speaker 1: to a work published on van Go and analytical chemistry, 483 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,200 Speaker 1: chemists figured out the reason why some of van Go's 484 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 1: brilliant chrome yellows have faded over the years. By using 485 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,800 Speaker 1: UV light and simulating the aging process of old paint. 486 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: They found that chromium oxidized when it was mixed with 487 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 1: a chemical ingredient often found in the white pigment, lithopone. 488 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,520 Speaker 1: So they figured he must have stretched his yellow paint 489 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: with white and unknown oninly created a problem for conservators 490 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: down the road. And I thought that was such an 491 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,200 Speaker 1: interesting piece of news because it helped answer a question 492 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: that I had had, which was how did van Go eat, 493 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,679 Speaker 1: pay his rent, live and buy what are usually pretty 494 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: expensive supplies, I mean oil paints and canvases. That's expensive 495 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: stuff with no job. So THEO obviously supported him contributed 496 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,680 Speaker 1: um much of the money that van Go used to live, 497 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,680 Speaker 1: but Vangilt was clearly penny pinching too, so like painting 498 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,360 Speaker 1: over the old canvases, we mentioned that historians have figured 499 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: that a huge number of Vango's paintings probably do have 500 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 1: other paintings underneath them, and then even going as far 501 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,960 Speaker 1: as to stretch his paint I think it's it's interesting. 502 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: It is, but considering all the support that THEO gave Vincent, 503 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: it's probably appropriate that in nineteen fourteen, Theo's remains were 504 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: relocated to rest near Vincent's, so anyone stopping to pay 505 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,479 Speaker 1: respects to the artist can also visit the grave of 506 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: his tireless supporter. I think that's so appropriate somebody who 507 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: had just total faith in his and his family member 508 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: and turned out to be right, even though neither of 509 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: them got to see it unfortunately. So UM I had 510 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: fun researching this, and for those of you who are 511 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 1: interested in learning more, there's so much. I mean, obviously 512 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,360 Speaker 1: go look at um pictures, either in museums of course 513 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,960 Speaker 1: or online, but the trove of letters is so fun. 514 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: I mean I just looked at random ones, picking different 515 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: letters to different correspondence from different time periods, and I 516 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: think it really helped give me a better sense of 517 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 1: what kind of person Van Gogh was. Thanks so much 518 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. 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