Impressive artist takes own life

It isn’t new news to anyone that Vincent van Gogh was a troubled individual. Most people are aware that he cut off part of his own ear. Some also know that he struggled with depression and mental illness throughout most of his life. But underneath his haunted exterior was a brilliant and dramatic artist that deserves to be remembered.

On this day, in 1890, van Gogh died. He walked into a field in France and shot himself two days earlier- on the 27th – but didn’t survive his injuries. He was 37 years old, and sold only a few paintings during his lifetime. His loving brother Theo was at his bedside when he died, and he claims that van Gogh’s last words were “the sadness will last forever.”

Today, van Gogh’s work is among some of the most easily recognizable in the world. It’s also the most expensive. He used thick, swooping brush strokes and focused on things like starry skies, cypress trees, and self-portraits.

The first time I saw a van Gogh painting was in London. My brother and I were walking around Trafalgar Square, and stumbled across the National Gallery. We hadn’t really planned on visiting museums until we reached Amsterdam, but Chris convinced me to go inside. I’m so glad he did, because among other famous van Gogh pieces, I saw Sunflowers.

Photos weren’t allowed, but that didn’t stop Chris from snapping a few shots when the museum staff wasn’t looking. “It’s the first time you’re seeing the work of your favourite artist,” he had said to me as I looked around nervously. “I have to capture this moment for you, even if I’m thrown in jail.” Thanks, lil’ bro.

My encounter with van Gogh didn’t end there, and I have been fortunate to visit a few other museums around the work that carry his work. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was amazing, and I couldn’t believe that I was surrounded by three floors of his stuff. In Paris, Musee d’Orsay has a huge collection of van Gogh pieces, including Starry Night over the Rhone, one of my favourites. The Art Institute of Chicago was also impressive, and that was my most recent experience.

But throughout all of my travels and museum encounters, there is one painting that I have never had the opportunity to view in person.

The one and only Starry Night.

The one painting that has been my favourite since I was a child is the one that I have yet to see. I’ve tried – trust me – but something always happens to deflect me from my goal. The permanent location of the painting is the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and one day I better get there. Starry Night is currently sitting in my apartment in a place on honour, above my sofa, and before that it held a spot above my bed.

Vincent van Gogh, in my opinion, was a tormented genius. It’s too bad that he couldn’t live long enough to see himself become famous, but many artists living during that time didn’t.

Here are a few of my favourite van Gogh quotes:

“I am not an adventurer by choice, but by fate.”

“There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”

“We spend our whole lives in unconscious exercise of the art of expressing our thoughts with the help of words.”

"To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace."

1853 – 1890