There is a new book coming out next week about Van Gogh’s death called “Van Gogh: The Life”. The article by Pogrebin called “New Biography Says Van Gogh Did Not Kill Himself” talks about Van Gogh’s suspicious death. This book by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith is a biography of the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh and it questions whether Van Gogh really committed suicide or was murdered. The article claims “the bullet entered his upper abdomen ‘from an unusual, oblique angle-not straight on as one would expect in a suicide.’” The article also states “no gun was ever found.” that “Van Gogh had no knowledge of guns” and finally that he never left a suicide note as most people would do. They say that Van Gogh’s friend’s teenage brother shot Van Gogh, but Van Gogh never accused the boy because “he saw no reason to punish anyone for bringing it about.”(Pogrebin)
I think that this article is a little suspicious that this evidence is coming out so late. Van Gogh died in 1890 and finally after 120 years have we figured out that he didn’t commit suicide. If this is true I wonder how it’s going to change people’s perception of Van Gogh. Van Gogh has now become some sort of saint in my eyes because he was able to forgive his enemy even though he tried to kill him. He was able to accept death and at the same time say there is no reason to punish anyone for bringing it about. (Pogrebin) Also there is a wide belief that “Wheatfield with Crows”, one of the late works signifies his loneliness and sadness. The painting “Wheatfield with Crows” is a somber painting and demonstrates Van Gogh’s misery. Van Gogh may have wanted to die, which is why he didn’t turn in his killer.
I see why you would be suspicious of the evidence of Van Gogh being murdered is coming out more than a century after his death, but considering the time period Van Gogh died and technology today, it is highly unlikely that these claims are false. Nonetheless, this book seems pretty interesting; I would consider reading.
I agree with Sharon that this book sounds interesting and I would be willing to read it but I wouldn’t actually believe any of the suspicious details about his death. I would think of it as more fictional because it happened too long ago for me to consider information like this credible.
Wow! I really enjoy reading and watching stories like this. I love how its exploring something that no one actually knows the answer too like the Big Bang. I also think it is extremely plausible that Van Gogh was in fact murdered because one thing I consider very important when someone gets shot is the direction of the bullet. i was just watching Horrible Bosses before yesterday and when one of the bosses shot himself, it was incredibly obvious that he shot himself. yet he was blaming his employee for shooting him.