Vincent Van Gogh Research Paper

Vincent Van Gogh, genius or madman? ‘The connection between genius and mental illness is paradoxically both clearer and murkier than that between genius and high intelligence.’ (Published on March 31, 2011, Andrew Robinson) Van Gogh, possibly the most famous example of a known genius who beared the title of a mentally ill individual, had severe depression, inflicted serious injury on his own earlobe in the year of 1888, admitted himself to a mental facility, and shot himself in 1890, yet he is one of the most respected and well known men of our time, all because of his unmistakable and ingenious art work. Van Gogh 's recurrent mental derangements were never in suspicion, not by himself nor his family. However, his sanity was never questioned
either.
Vincent Van Gogh was a known madman; it was never in question to anyone, not even himself, “I am unable to describe exactly what is the matter with me; now and then there are horrible fits of anxiety, apparently without cause, or otherwise a feeling of emptiness and fatigue in the head.…”. (Vincent Van Gogh, date unknown) Van Gogh had been diagnosed with many conditions, illnesses and mental instabilities. Some being epilepsy, bipolar disorder, depression, psychotic episodes, and unpredictable mood swings. Doctors including Dr. Peyron and Dr. Felix Rey believed that Van Gogh’s epileptic seizures were occurring due to temporal lobe epilepsy. He was born with a brain laceration that was thought to of been intensified by his recurrent consumption of absinthe, this is what is believed to have caused his epileptic condition. Enthusiasm and dedication were standout characteristics in Van Gogh’s personality. Impulsive behaviour was a prominent factor in his life, though these periods were on every occasion trailed by depression and exhaustion. Therefore, doctors and specialists concluded that manic depression or bipolar disorder was a component of Van Gogh’s life. His bipolar disease is also what lead to his suicidal demise. Vincent Van Gogh was also diagnosed with Hypergraphia, which is a condition making ones desire /need to write intensify to an almost continuous level. This disorder is commonly linked to another of his conditions; epilepsy. The assortment of over 800 letters that Van Gogh wrote throughout his life time could be recognised and attributed to this condition.
It has never been an uncertainty in our society that Vincent Van Gogh is in fact one of the most famous genius’ within his art work; his art is known worldwide as astounding pieces of work. Although he was not recognised as a genius in his day, and his work was worth next to nothing, today he is seen as one of the greatest artists of both his and our time, and his paintings are worth millions. Not only was Van Gogh introducing a new style of art, experimenting with new concepts and colours but he was the beginning of a new era; expressionism. This is not only a remarkable point in history but also supports the fact that Vincent Van Gogh was in fact a genius; for one single man began a whole new look into art. The society he lived in was not ready for his non-conforming behaviour and harsh reality of what truth lied behind his paintings. Not only with the realistic colours he used but also the concepts; he was not only painting portraits as everyone else was, however he rebelled against tradition and began painting landscapes and everyday images such as drawings of gardens, sunflowers, Patience Escalier, Eugene Boch, the Roulins, cafes, his room and his chair; all incredibly alive and beautiful. Genius by definition is, ‘somebody with exceptional ability, especially someone whose creative achievements gain worldwide recognition’. It is no argue that Vincent Van Gogh met these requirements.
It is believed that one of Van Gogh’s numerous physicians, Dr. Gachet treated his condition of epilepsy with a prescription drug by the name of digitalis. The drug has been known to cause one to see either yellow spots, or to view things in yellow. This is a very possible reason as to why Van Gogh painted a lot of yellow. A popular drink in his time was absinth, and Van Gogh drank a substantial amount of it, however what most people don’t know is that there is Thujone present in the liqueur. Thujone is a toxin that when taken in high doses can, once again cause one to view things in yellow. Physicians who have studied the artist have conflicting thoughts on whether this is what caused his attraction to yellow or not. Van Gogh used lead based paints, so there is differing assumptions to whether or not he suffered from lead poisoning by biting on paint chips. One of the effects from lead poisoning is that is causes one to see circles around objects; much like halos, which is present in his famous painting ‘The Starry Night’. Van Gogh’s paintings are purely the reason he is known as a genius and the fact that his mental derangements assisted with the completion of his work and to the standard it was, and also the way it was done supports the fact that he is a genius because he was a madman.
Vincent Van Gogh; a man well recognised as a genius who beared the label of a mentally ill human being. Throughout his life he created some of the most high end paintings and drawings, and he would not have done so without some of the mental imbalances that were present in his life. Vincent put everything he had into his work, and it is clear within his art pieces that his emotions and thoughts over threw everything; he did not paint what was expected of him, or what people wanted him to paint, he created what he desired to, and all of this has been proved to have been connected to his mental state. We have learnt that he would not have created what he did without being unstable, therefore we conclude that Vincent Van Gogh was a genius, because he was a madman.
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