What Van Gogh suffered. On the issue of diagnosing the mental illness of Vincent van Gogh
The essence of the Van Gogh syndrome is the irresistible desire of a mentally ill person to perform operations on himself: to inflict extensive cuts, cut off various parts of the body. The syndrome can be observed in patients with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. The basis of such a disorder are aggressive attitudes aimed at injuring and harming oneself.
The Life and Death of Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh, the world famous Post-Impressionist painter, suffered from a mental illness, but modern doctors and historians can only guess which one. There are several versions: Meniere (this term did not exist then, but the symptoms are similarities with Van Gogh behavior) or epileptic psychosis. The last diagnosis was made to the artist by his attending physician and a colleague of the latter, who worked in a shelter. Perhaps it was about negative consequences alcohol abuse, namely absinthe.
Van Gogh started creative activity only at the age of 27, and died at 37. Za could paint several paintings. The records of the attending physician indicate that in the intervals between attacks, Van Gogh was calm and passionately indulged creative process. He was the eldest child in the family and from childhood showed controversial character: at home was pretty difficult child, and outside the family - quiet and modest. This duality persisted in adult life.
Van Gogh's suicide
Explicit attacks mental illness started at last years life. The artist either reasoned very soberly, or fell into complete confusion. By official version, hard physical and mental work, as well as a riotous lifestyle, led to death. Vincent van Gogh, as mentioned earlier, abused absinthe.
In the summer of 1890, the artist went for a walk with materials for creativity. He also had a gun with him to scare away flocks of birds during work. After finishing writing "Wheatfield with Crows", Van Gogh shot himself in the heart with this pistol, and then independently got to the hospital. After 29 hours, the artist died from blood loss. Shortly before the incident, he was discharged from psychiatric clinic, concluding that Van Gogh is completely healthy, and the mental crisis has passed.
ear incident
In 1888, on the night of December 23-24, Van Gogh lost his ear. His friend and colleague Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin told the police that there had been a quarrel between them. Gauguin wanted to leave the city, but Van Gogh did not want to part with his friend, he threw a glass of absinthe at the artist and went to spend the night in the nearest inn.
Van Gogh, left alone and depressed psychological state cut off his earlobe with a straight razor. Van Gogh's self-portrait is even dedicated to this event. Then he wrapped the lobe in newspaper and went to brothel to a familiar prostitute to show the trophy and find solace. At least that's what the artist told the police. Officers found him unconscious the next day.
Other versions
Some believe that Paul Gauguin himself cut off a friend's ear in a fit of anger. He was a good swordsman, so it was easy for him to pounce on Van Gogh and cut off the lobe of his left ear with a rapier. After that, Gauguin could throw the weapons into the river.
There is a version that the artist injured himself because of the news about the marriage of his brother Theo. According to biographer Martin Bailey, he received the letter on the day he cut off his ear. Van Gogh's brother attached 100 francs to the letter. The biographer notes that Theo was not only a beloved relative for the artist, but also a significant sponsor.
In the hospital where the victim was taken, they diagnosed him with acute mania. The records of Felix Frey, a mental hospital intern who looked after the artist, indicate that Van Gogh cut off not only his earlobe, but his entire ear.
Mental illness
Van Gogh's mental illness is rather mysterious. It is known that during seizures he could eat his paints, rush around the room for hours and freeze for a long time in one position, he was overcome by melancholy and anger, terrible hallucinations visited him. The artist said that during the period of darkness he saw images of future paintings. It is possible that Van Gogh first saw the self-portrait during an attack.
In the clinic, he was also diagnosed with another diagnosis - “epilepsy of the temporal lobes”. True, the opinions of doctors about the state of health of the artist diverged. Felix Rey, for example, believed that Van Gogh was ill with epilepsy, and the head of the clinic was of the opinion that the patient had brain damage - encephalopathy. The artist was prescribed hydrotherapy - staying in the bath for two hours twice a week, but this did not help.
Dr. Gachet, who observed Van Gogh for some time, believed that the patient was negatively affected by prolonged exposure to heat and turpentine, which the artist drank during his work. But he used turpentine already during the attack to relieve the symptoms.
The most common opinion about Van Gogh's mental health today is the diagnosis of "epileptic psychosis". This is a rare disease that affects only 3-5% of patients. The fact that there were epileptics among the artist's relatives also speaks in favor of the diagnosis. The predisposition might not have manifested if it were not for hard work, alcohol, stress and poor nutrition.
Van Gogh syndrome
The diagnosis is made when a mentally ill person injures himself. Van Gogh syndrome - self-operation or the patient's insistence on the doctor to perform surgical intervention. The condition occurs in dysmorphophobia, schizophrenia and dysmorphomania, as well as some other mental disorders.
Van Gogh's syndrome is caused by the presence of hallucinations, impulsive cravings, and delusions. The patient is convinced that some part of the body is so ugly that it causes unbearable physical and moral suffering to the owner of the deformity and causes horror in those around him. The only solution the patient finds to get rid of his imaginary defect in absolutely any way. In this case, there is actually no defect.
It is believed that Van Gogh cut off his ear, suffering severe migraines, dizziness, pain and tinnitus, which drove him into a frenzy, nervous strain. Depression and chronic stress could lead to schizophrenia. Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Dumas son, Nikolai Gogol and Ernest Hemingway suffered from the same pathology.
In modern psychiatry
Van Gogh syndrome is one of the most famous psychopathologies. Mental deviation associated with an irresistible desire to perform operations on oneself with amputation of body parts or forcing medical personnel to carry out the same manipulations. As a rule, Van Gogh's syndrome is not a separate disease, but accompanies another mental disorder. Most often, patients with hypochondriacal delusions, dysmorphomania and schizophrenia are susceptible to pathology.
The cause of Van Gogh's syndrome is auto-aggression and self-damaging behavior as a result of depression, demonstrative behavior, various self-control disorders, the inability to resist stress factors and adequately respond to everyday difficulties. According to statistics, men are more likely to suffer from the syndrome, but women are more susceptible to auto-aggressive behavior. Female patients are more likely to inflict cuts and wounds on themselves, and men, as a rule, injure themselves in the genital area.
Provoking factors
The development of Van Gogh's syndrome can be affected whole line factors: genetic predisposition, drug and alcohol addiction, various diseases of internal organs, socio-psychological aspects. The genetic factor plays a major role. According to contemporaries, Van Gogh's sisters suffered from mental retardation and schizophrenia, and the aunt suffered from epilepsy.
The level of personality control is reduced under the influence alcoholic beverages and narcotic substances. If the patient is disposed to auto-aggressive behavior, then a decrease in self-control and volitional qualities can lead to serious injuries. The consequences of Van Gogh's syndrome in this case are deplorable - a person can lose too much blood and die.
An important role is played by socio-psychological influence. Most often, the patient injures himself due to the inability to cope with everyday stresses and stresses, conflicts. Patients often claim to replace in this way heartache physical.
In some cases, the desire to independently perform a surgical operation is caused by the severe course of a disease. A person who suffers from a mental disorder and constantly experiences pain is more likely to injure himself in order to get rid of the discomfort. It was stated above that Van Gogh's amputation was an attempt by the artist to get rid of insurmountable pain and constant tinnitus.
Treatment of the syndrome
Therapy of Van Gogh syndrome involves identifying the underlying mental illness or the causes of the obsessive desire to injure oneself. To take off obsessive desire, antipsychotics, antidepressants and tranquilizers are used. Hospitalization required. With Van Gogh syndrome, schizophrenia or other mental illness, this will help reduce the risk of damage.
Psychotherapy will be effective only if the syndrome manifests itself against a background of neurosis or depressive disorder. More effective is cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, which will establish not only the causes of the patient's behavior, but also suitable ways countering outbursts of aggression. The process of recovery in Van Gogh syndrome with dysmorphomania with the dominance of auto-aggressive attitudes is difficult, because the patient is not able to achieve positive results.
Treatment is long and not always successful. Therapy in general can come to a standstill if the patient has a stable state of delirium.
Syndro m Van-G oh ha (by the name of the patient - Dutch artist XIX V. Van Gogh) - the infliction of crippling injury to a mentally ill person (cutting off a part of the body, extensive incisions) or presenting insistent demands to the doctor to perform a surgical intervention on him, due to the presence of hypochondriacal delusions, hallucinations, impulsive drives.
Vincent van Gogh. Self-portrait (a fragment of a picture)
He lived a life of poverty. Recognition came to him after his death, and today tens of millions of dollars are given for his paintings.Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853. Vincent's father was Theodor van Gogh, a Protestant pastor, and his mother was Anna Cornelia Carbentus, the daughter of a venerable bookbinder and bookseller from The Hague. He was the eldest child in the family, who from childhood showed his inconsistency: his family remembered him as a wayward and difficult child, and outside the family he was quiet, serious, sweet and modest.
At first he studied at a village school, then at home, with a governess, and at the age of 11 he was sent to study at a boarding school. The isolation from his family made a depressing impression on him, which was reflected in the whole later life. At the age of 15, he quits boarding school and returns home.
Vincent's love for painting began when he started working as a dealer in his uncle's art and trading company.
Soon he suffered a failure in love. Disappointment affected the work - he lost interest in it and turned to the Bible. Life has changed dramatically. Van Gogh was a bookseller, and from 1869 to 1876 served as a commission agent for an art trading firm in The Hague, Brussels, London and Paris. And in 1876 he worked as a teacher in England.
After that, he became interested in theology and from 1878 was a preacher in the mining district of Borinage ( in Belgium)
Van Gogh became an artist at the age of 27. In 1885, the light saw famous painting"Potato Eaters". It is written in dark shades and, like in other paintings, the central object is a person with his emotions and experiences.
In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris, where he painted a whole collection of paintings, among them the most famous "Poets' Garden". new period creativity is marked by a change in style. The colors become brighter, the plots more cheerful. This period is characterized by the technique of pointillism - small short strokes of iridescent colors.
| Still life . Vase with irises. May 1890 |
Van Gogh shot himself on July 27, 1890, after his mental crisis seemed to have been overcome. Shortly before that, he was discharged from the clinic with the conclusion: “ recovered ».
During the attacks, he was visited by nightmarish hallucinations, melancholy and anger. He could eat his own paints, rush around the room for hours and freeze in one position for a long time. According to him, in these moments of stupefaction, he saw images of future canvases.
The culmination of the illness, during which he often had unbearable headaches, was that he launched a glass of absinthe into the head of the no less great Gauguin, and then attacked him with an open razor. By the way, on the same evening
By the way, according to another version: Vincent van Gogh's earlobe was cut off by his friend Paul Gauguin - so
According to their version, on the night of December 23-24, 1888, Van Gogh attacked Gauguin in a fit of rage when he told a friend that he was going to leave Arles. Gauguin, a good swordsman, cut off Van Gogh's left earlobe with a rapier, after which he threw the weapon into the river. The conclusions of art historians are based, among other things, on the study of police protocols, on which the generally accepted version was based: Van Gogh cut off his own ear with a razor in a state of mental arousal.
That is what Gauguin told the police.
According to the interrogation protocol, after a quarrel with a friend, Gauguin left home and went to spend the night at a nearby hotel. Left alone, frustrated, Van Gogh cut off his earlobe with a razor, after which he went to a brothel to show a piece of an ear wrapped in a newspaper to a familiar prostitute. Subsequently, this episode from the life of the artist was considered a sign mental disorder which led him to commit suicide. Once, having made the last stroke of the painting " Crows in a wheat field' shot himself in the head. According to another version, the shot was in the stomach, after which he painted another painting.
In mental illness
Ban
Goga
a lot of mystery.
Psychiatrists who are trying to restore the clinical picture are now recognized as the correct diagnosis, made by Dr. Ray and confirmed by Dr. Peyron in the Saint-Paul asylum: epileptic psychosis (we used to call it: other conditions that meet the criteria for organic psychosis but do not take the form of confusion, non-alcoholic Korsakoff's psychosis, or dementia; now called: unspecified psychotic disorders due to epilepsy) .
Among relatives
Van
Goga the mother had epileptics; one of his aunts suffered from epilepsy.
Mental illness then befell both Theo and Willemina - apparently, the roots lay in heredity.
But, of course, hereditary predisposition is not something fatal - it could never lead to illness, if not for stimulating conditions. Colossal constant overstrain of mental and mental strength, chronic overwork, malnutrition, alcohol, combined with severe moral upheavals that have befallen
Van
Goga
in excess - all this was more than enough for the potential predisposition to the disease to be realized.
Fatal duality haunted the artist throughout his short life. It really seemed like two people got along in it. He dreamed about family hearth and children calling it " real life". However, he devoted himself entirely to art. He wanted to become a priest, like his father, and he, having transgressed all the rules, began to live with "one of those women whom priests curse from the pulpit." With him, especially in recent years, the strongest bouts of insanity, but the rest of the time he reasoned very soberly.
Van Gog deified Paul Gauguin, whom he invited to live in his studio. And it is generally accepted that he also made an attempt on Gauguin, during the next attack.
VanGog was examined by three doctors, and they all came to different opinions.
Dr Ray believed that Van Gog suffers from epilepsy.
The head of the psychiatric clinic at Saint-Remy, Dr. Peyron, believed that Van Gog suffered from acute encephalopathy (brain damage). In the course of treatment, he included hydrotherapy, that is, a two-hour stay in the bath twice a week. However, hydrotherapy did not alleviate the disease. Van Goga.
Dr. Gachet, who was watching Van Gog in Auvers was not a sufficiently qualified doctor. He claimed that on Van Goga allegedly had an effect long stay in the sun and turpentine, which he drank while working. But turpentine VanGog drank when the attack was already beginning, in order to relieve his symptoms.
The paintings themselves serve as material for hypotheses. Van Goga . Special attention researchers are attracted by the picture "Starlight Night"
.
Some of them argue that an excessive passion for green, red and white paints speaks of the artist's color blindness. However, while working on this picture, Van
gog
knew exactly what he was doing. The sketches made during the work on the painting show that the artist very carefully calculated the ratio of colors on the canvas, trying to achieve the effect he needed. Vincent was well aware of the uniqueness of his manner of writing, which was ahead of its time and therefore inaccessible to the understanding of many people.
In a letter to Émile Bernard from Arles, he wrote: "An artist who has in advance a complete and final idea of what he is going to write in his head cannot be proud of his work."
« His seizures were cyclical, recurring every three months. In hypomanic phases Van gog again began to work from sunrise to sunset, painted with rapture and inspiration, two or three paintings a day", - wrote the doctor. Therefore, many diagnosed the artist's illness as a manic-depressive psychosis.
According to one version, the cause of the artist's death was the destructive effect of absinthe, to which he was not indifferent, like many other people of a creative warehouse. This absinthe, according to experts, contained an extract of wormwood alpha-thujone.
This substance, entering the human body, penetrates into the nervous tissue, including the brain, which leads to a disruption in the process of normal inhibition of nerve impulses, in other words, the nervous system “breaks down”. As a result, a person experiences seizures, hallucinations, and other signs of psychopathic behavior. It should be noted that the alkaloid thujone is contained not only in wormwood, but also in thuja, which gave the name to this alkaloid, and in many other plants. Ironically on the grave Vincent
Van
Goga
it is precisely these ill-fated thujas that grow, whose dope completely ruined the artist.
Among other versions about the disease Van Goga V Lately another one appeared. It is known that the artist often experienced a condition accompanied by ringing in the ears. So, experts have found that this phenomenon is accompanied by severe depression. Only the professional help of a psychotherapist can get rid of such a state. Presumably, it was ringing in the ears with Meniere's disease, and even in combination with depression, that brought Van Goga to madness and suicide.
A similar version: Cyclic schizophrenia - it is believed that Nikolai Gogol, Mikalojus Čiurlionis, Alexander Dumas son, Ernest Hemingway, Albrecht Durer, Sergei Rachmaninov suffered from the same disease. In general, a schizophrenic creates a world unlike the one where most people live. What is over a common person laughs, it can cause anger in a schizophrenic. Incompatible things coexist in his head, the antagonism of which he is not aware of. Often he endows everything that happens with an unusual, often sinister meaning and believes that only he can comprehend this meaning.If in a simple way - an irresistible desire to perform surgical operations on oneself, for example, cut off parts of the body or inflict cuts in an attempt to get rid of a far-fetched physical defect. Most often, this syndrome manifests itself in schizophrenia, hallucinosis, manic-depressive psychosis and other diseases.
The basis of the disorder is formed by internal attitudes towards self-mutilation, often combined with dissatisfaction with one's appearance. Accordingly, persons affected by this syndrome strive in every possible way to get rid of an imaginary defect on their own or with the help of competent physical intervention.
Obviously the most famous person, who suffered from this ailment, is Vincent van Gogh, who shocked the public by amputating his ear and sending it to his beloved. At the same time, there is a version that the ear was deprived of the artist by his friend during one of the quarrels. And another possible confluence of events - Van Gogh could be under the influence of drugs. However, the scientific community still agrees on the idea that the artist has this deviation.
A similar syndrome appears in demonstrative self-mutilation, for example, as during a performance domestic artist Pavlensky on Red Square.
A milder form, so to speak, is self-damaging behavior and auto-aggression. In this case, accessible parts of the body most often suffer: arms, legs, chest and abdomen, genitals. However, amputation does not occur. Reasons for this behavior include the following:
- demonstrative behavior,
- Depression,
- impulsive behavior,
- Violation of self-control
- Inability to adequately respond to stress and setbacks.
According to statistics, women are more susceptible to auto-aggression, and men are more susceptible to Van Gogh syndrome. Because of which this disorder can develop? There are many reasons for this:
- genetic predisposition,
- social influence,
- Diseases of the internal organs,
- Alcohol or drug addiction.
Therapy of the disorder involves, first of all, the treatment of the disease itself, which caused the development of the syndrome. Antipsychotics and antidepressants are used to reduce the uncontrollable desire to injure oneself. In the event that Van Gogh syndrome is diagnosed, hospitalization is necessary in order to reduce the risk of injury. It is worth saying that this is always a long and complicated process, the effect of which is not guaranteed.
Now for some hard facts.
The American artist A. Fielding urged the doctors to perform a trepanation in order to be able to look at the world differently. She was so obsessed with the idea of enlightenment that she had an obsession with drilling a hole in her skull. Which is exactly what she did.
At a time when the elven race became one of the phenomena of the gaming industry, many people began to self-mutilate their ears in an attempt to achieve their pointed form, like virtual characters.
Finally, the brutal practice of amputating fingers as a political or other protest is now spreading. This practice is most common in Eastern countries influenced by ancient technology yumitsume (amputation of part of the finger as punishment for non-compliance with the rules of the mafia community).
The world famous Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853. But he became an artist only at the age of 27, and died at 37. His productivity was incredible - he could paint several paintings in a day: landscapes, still lifes, portraits. From the notes of his attending physician: "In the intervals between attacks, the patient is completely calm and passionately indulges in painting."
Vincent Van Gogh. "View of Arles with Irises". 1888
Illness and death
Van Gogh was the eldest child in the family and already in childhood his contradictory character was manifested - at home future artist was a wayward and difficult child, and outside the family - quiet, serious and modest.In him, and in the subsequent years of his life, duality was manifested - he dreamed of a family hearth and children, considering this "real life", but devoted himself completely to art. Explicit attacks mental illness began in the last years of his life, when Van Gogh either experienced severe bouts of insanity, or he reasoned very soberly.
According to the official version, hard work, both physical and mental, and a riotous lifestyle led to his death - Van Gogh abused absinthe.The artist died on July 29, 1890. Two days earlier, in Auvers-sur-Oise, he went out for a walk with drawing materials. He had a pistol with him, which Van Gogh bought to scare away flocks of birds while working in the open air. It was from this pistol that the artist shot himself in the region of the heart, after which he independently reached the hospital. 29 hours later, he died from blood loss.
It is worth noting that Van Gogh shot himself after his mental crisis seemed to have been overcome. Shortly before this death, he was discharged from the clinic with the conclusion: "He recovered."
Versions
Vincent Van Gogh. Dedicated to Gauguin. 1888
There is a lot of mystery in Van Gogh's mental illness. It is known that during the attacks he was visited by nightmarish hallucinations, melancholy and anger, he could eat his paints, rush around the room for hours and freeze in one position for a long time. According to the artist himself, in these moments of stupefaction he saw images of future canvases.
At the mental hospital in Arles, he was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. But the opinions of doctors about what was happening to the artist differed. Dr. Felix Ray believed that Van Gogh was suffering from epilepsy, and the head of the psychiatric clinic in Saint-Remy Dr. Peyron believed that the artist suffered from acute encephalopathy (brain damage). In the course of treatment, he included hydrotherapy - a two-hour stay in the bath twice a week. But hydrotherapy did not alleviate Van Gogh's illness.
At the same time, Dr. Gachet, who observed the artist in Auvers, claimed that Van Gogh was affected by a long stay in the sun and turpentine, which he drank while working. But Van Gogh drank turpentine when the attack was already beginning to relieve his symptoms.
To date, the most correct diagnosis is considered - these are a rather rare manifestation of the disease, which occurs in 3-5% of patients.
Among Van Gogh's relatives on the mother's side were epileptics. One of his aunts suffered from epilepsy. Hereditary predisposition might not have manifested if it were not for the constant overstrain of mental and spiritual forces, overwork, poor nutrition, alcohol and severe shocks.
Affective insanity
Among the records of doctors there are the following lines: “He had seizures of a cyclical nature, repeated every three months. In the hypomanic phases, Van Gogh again began to work from sunrise to sunset, painted with rapture and inspiration, two or three paintings a day. Based on these words, many diagnosed the artist's illness as a manic-depressive psychosis.
Vincent Van Gogh. "Sunflowers", 1888.
Symptoms of manic-depressive psychosis include thoughts of suicide, unmotivated good mood, increased motor and speech activity, periods of mania and depressive states.
The reason for the development of psychosis in Van Gogh could be absinthe, which, according to experts, contained an extract of wormwood alpha-thujone. This substance, getting into the human body, penetrates into the nervous tissue and the brain, which leads to disruption of the process of normal inhibition of nerve impulses. As a result, a person experiences seizures, hallucinations, and other signs of psychopathic behavior.
"Epilepsy plus insanity"
Van Gogh was considered insane by Dr. Peyron, a French physician, who in May 1889 stated: "Van Gogh is an epileptic and a lunatic."
Note that until the 20th century, the diagnosis of epilepsy also meant Meniere's disease.
The discovered letters of Van Gogh show the most severe attacks of dizziness, typical for the pathology of the ear labyrinth (inner ear). They were accompanied by nausea, uncontrollable vomiting, tinnitus, and alternated periods during which he was completely healthy.
Meniere's disease
Features of the disease: constant ringing in the head, then subsiding, then intensifying, sometimes accompanied by hearing loss. The disease usually develops at the age of 30-50 years. As a result of the disease, hearing impairment can become permanent, and some patients develop deafness.According to one version, the story of the cut off ear (the painting "Self-portrait with a cut off ear") is a consequence of an unbearable ringing.
Van Gogh syndrome
The diagnosis of "Van Gogh's syndrome" is used in the case of a mentally ill person inflicting crippling injury on himself (cutting off part of the body, extensive incisions) or presenting insistent demands to the doctor to perform surgical intervention on him. This disease occurs in schizophrenia, dysmorphophobia, dysmorphomania, due to the presence of delusions, hallucinations, impulsive drives.
It is believed that suffering severely from frequent bouts of dizziness, accompanied by unbearable noise in the ears, which drove him into a frenzy, Van Gogh cut off his ear.
Vincent Van Gogh. "With a bandaged ear", 1889.
However, this story has several versions. According to one of them, Vincent van Gogh's earlobe was cut off by his friend. Paul Gauguin. On the night of December 23-24, 1888, a quarrel broke out between them and, in a fit of rage, Van Gogh attacked Gauguin, who, being a good swordsman, cut off Van Gogh's left earlobe with a rapier, after which he threw the weapon into the river.
But the main versions of art historians are based on the study of police protocols. According to the interrogation protocol and according to Gauguin, after a quarrel with a friend, Gauguin left home and went to spend the night in a hotel.
Upset Van Gogh, left alone, cut off his earlobe with a razor, after which he went to a brothel to show a piece of an ear wrapped in a newspaper to a familiar prostitute.
It is this episode from the artist's life that is considered a sign of a mental disorder that led him to suicide.
By the way, some experts argue that an excessive passion for green, red and white paints speaks of Van Gogh's color blindness. The analysis of the painting "Starry Night" led to the emergence of this hypothesis.
Vincent Van Gogh. " Starlight Night", 1889.
In general, researchers agree that great artist suffered from depression, which, along with ringing in the ears, nervous strain and abuse of absinthe, could lead to schizophrenia.
It is believed that the same disease suffered Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Dumas son, Ernest Hemingway, Albrecht Dürer and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Vincent van Gogh is one of those artists whom experts unanimously classify as artists of the mentally ill. On this occasion it is written great amount works authored by psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, art historians and culturologists, and even Wikipedia, when asked for “mentally ill artists”, gives information about him.
Researchers have debated diagnoses, suggesting that Van Gogh had bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or epilepsy aggravated by alcohol abuse. But all these diagnoses are only interpretations of a unique ensemble of texts written by Vincent van Gogh himself.
1. Few artists, having taken up a pen, left us observations, diaries, letters, the significance of which would be comparable to their contribution to the field of painting.
2. But Van Gogh's letters are a stunning, unlike anything document, stretching over hundreds of pages, it is a dialogue with the addressees of letters, but also with oneself, God, the world.
3. Without the need for intermediaries and translators, Vincent van Gogh himself talks about his experience mental disorder, presenting to readers an amazing, thinking, hardworking and very sensitive person who, in the periods between attacks of a terrible illness, was much healthier than most of his interpreters and diagnosticians.
4. The artist's heartbreaking account of his mental illness begins on January 2, 1889, in a letter addressed to his brother Theo from a psychiatric hospital. French city Arles, where Vincent ended up after the well-known incident with his ear cut off.
5. “In order to dispel all your fears about me, I am writing you a few words from the office of Dr. Ray, who is already familiar to you, who is practicing in the local hospital. I will stay in it for another two or three days, after which I expect to safely return home. I ask you one thing - do not worry, otherwise it will become a source of unnecessary excitement for me.
6. By the way, as a token of gratitude for the help that Mr. Rey provided to Van Gogh during bouts of illness, the artist painted his portrait. Contemporaries claimed that the portrait turned out to be very similar to the model, but Felix Rey was indifferent to art. Van Gogh's painting lay in the attic, then for some time they closed a hole in the chicken coop, and only in 1900 (10 years after the artist's death) was the painting found in Dr. Ray's yard. The work was acquired by the famous Russian collector Sergei Shchukin and kept in his personal collection until 1918. Leaving for immigration, the collector left the painting at home, so she got into the collection State Museum fine arts them. Pushkin in Moscow.
7. After this first hospitalization, Vincent van Gogh will write to his brother Theo: “I assure you that the few days I spent in the hospital turned out to be very interesting: life should probably be learned from the sick. I hope that nothing special happened to me - just, as it happens with artists, I found a temporary eclipse, accompanied by high temperature and significant blood loss because an artery was severed; but my appetite was immediately restored, my digestion is good, the loss of blood is replenished every day, and my head works more and more clearly.
8. In a letter to his brother Theo dated January 28, 1889, Vincent van Gogh offers his answer to the question of interest to many about the connection between genius and insanity, art and psychopathology: “I won’t say that we artists are mentally healthy, especially I won’t say this about myself - I am saturated with madness to the marrow of bones; but I say and maintain that we have such antidotes and such medicines that, if we show even a little good will, will be much stronger than the disease.
9. On February 3, 1889, Vincent van Gogh makes a curious observation about the inhabitants of the city of Arles - no, not the patients of the local psychiatric hospital, but ordinary citizens: “I must say that the neighbors are exceptionally kind to me: here, after all, everyone suffers from something - who fever, some with hallucinations, some with insanity; therefore, everyone understands each other perfectly, as members of the same family ... However, it should not be assumed that I am completely healthy. locals suffering from the same ailment, told me the whole truth: the patient can live to old age, but he will always have moments of eclipse. Therefore, do not assure me that I am not sick at all or will not get sick again.
10. From the artist’s letter to his brother dated March 19, 1889, we learn that the inhabitants of Arles turned to the mayor of the city with a statement signed by some of the townspeople that Van Gogh did not have the right to live in freedom, after which the police commissioner ordered the artist to be hospitalized again . “In a word, for many days now I have been sitting alone under lock and key and under the supervision of ministers, although my insanity has not been proven and is generally unprovable. Of course, in the depths of my soul I am wounded by such treatment; it is also clear that I will not allow myself to be indignant aloud: to make excuses in such cases means to plead guilty.
11. On April 21, Vincent van Gogh informs his brother Theo of his decision, after leaving the hospital, to settle in an asylum for the mentally ill in Saint-Remy-de-Provence: “I hope it will be enough if I say that I am decidedly unable to look for a new workshop and to live there alone... My capacity for work is gradually being restored, but I am afraid of losing it if I start to overexert myself and if, moreover, all the responsibility for the workshop falls on me... I am beginning to console myself with the fact that now I am beginning to consider madness as the same disease as any other."
12. Vincent van Gogh's sojourn psychiatric hospital, and later in the asylum for the mentally ill was financed by the artist's brother - Theo. In addition, Theodore provided Vincent with a livelihood for more than 10 years, gave money for rent and atelier, for canvases, paints and running costs. “I don’t know of such a medical institution where they would agree to admit me free of charge on the condition that I would paint at my own expense, and give all my work to the hospital. This is - I will not say big, but still injustice. If I found such a hospital, I would move into it without objection.
13. Before leaving Arles for the insane asylum of Saint-Remy-de-Provence, Vincent van Gogh writes the following letter to his brother: “I must look at things soberly. Of course, there are a whole bunch crazy artists: life itself makes them, to put it mildly, somewhat abnormal. Well, of course, if I manage to go back to work, but I will remain touched forever.
14. Vincent Van Gogh spent a year in the shelter of Saint-Remy-de-Provence (from May 1889 to May 1890), the director of the shelter allowed the artist to work and even provided a separate room for the workshop. Despite recurring seizures, Vincent continued to paint, seeing in this the only means of combating the disease: “Working on paintings is necessary condition my recovery: I only endured with great difficulty last days when I was forced to mess around and they didn’t even let me into the room assigned to me for painting ... "
15. In Saint-Remy-de-Provence, the artist paints landscapes depicting views from the window of the studio and the garden, and when Vincent was allowed to leave the shelter under supervision, the surroundings of Saint-Remy also appeared on his canvases.
16. Despite three severe seizures that put Vincent out of action for many weeks, he wrote more than 150 paintings this year, made more than 100 drawings and watercolors.
17. From a letter from Van Gogh to his sister: “It is true that there are several seriously ill people here, but the fear and disgust that madness inspired in me before have significantly weakened. And although you constantly hear terrible screams and howls, reminiscent of a menagerie, the inhabitants of the shelter quickly get to know each other and help each other when one of them has an attack. When I work in the garden, all the patients come out to see what I'm doing, and, I assure you, behave more delicately and more politely than the good citizens of Arles: they do not interfere with me. It is possible that I will stay here for quite some time. I have never experienced such peace as here and in the Arles hospital.
18. Vincent van Gogh's desire to work, despite his illness, to continue painting and not give up, is sincerely admired: “Life passes and you can’t turn it back, but it’s for this reason that I work sparing no effort: the opportunity to work is also not always repeated. In the case of me - and even more so: after all, a stronger than usual attack can forever destroy me as an artist.
19. It is important to note that Van Gogh was probably the only resident of the shelter who was in business: “Following the treatment used in this institution is very easy even if you move from here, because absolutely nothing is done here. Patients are left to vegetate in idleness and console themselves with tasteless, and sometimes stale food.
20. At the end of May 1890, Theo invited his brother to move closer to him and his family, to which Vincent did not object. After spending three days with Theo in Paris, the artist settled in Auvers-sur-Oise (a small village not far from Paris). Here Vincent works, not allowing himself a minute of rest, every day a new work comes out from under his brush. Thus, over the last two months of his life, he creates 70 paintings and 32 drawings.
21. In Auvers-sur-Oise, the artist is supervised by Dr. Gachet, who was a specialist in heart disease and a great lover of art. About this doctor, Vincent writes: “As far as I understand, one cannot count on Dr. Gachet in any way. In the first place, it seems to me that he is even more ill than I am, at any rate no less; such are the things. And if the blind lead the blind, won't they both fall into the ditch?
22. Collapsed ... On July 29, 1890, Vincent van Gogh will die, having shot himself in the chest, he will die in the presence of the summoned Dr. Gachet. In the artist's pocket they will find last letter, addressed to Theo van Gogh, which ends like this: "Well, I paid with my life for my work, and it cost me half my sanity, it's true ..."
23. The death of an older brother will turn out to be a disaster for Theodore Van Gogh: after an unsuccessful attempt to organize a posthumous exhibition of his brother’s paintings, Theo will show signs of insanity, his wife will decide to place the patient in psychiatric hospital where he would die on January 21, 1891.
24. The joint work of the brothers will be highly appreciated posthumously, and it seems incredible injustice that none of them lived to see the day when they came to Vincent van Gogh world fame and recognition.
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