The Diary of Van Gogh

For most people, Vincent Van Gogh embodies the notion of "the artist as a mad genius." He is still written about, spoken of, and his work is thoroughly researched, uncovering new details about his life and sometimes creating crazy legends.... The tense state of his soul and mind in the last few years of his life, which sublimated into his famous masterpieces, was the result of painful internal and external contradictions he experienced. His contempt for conventions and complete freedom of creativity helped him create his own, inimitable language in art, which his friends and contemporaries did not understand and which was appreciated only after his death. He was unhappy in love and had extremely naïve views about life before he chose the path of a preacher. At 37, when he finally approached the recognition and success he had longed for throughout his life, in a fit of madness, he took his own life, fatally wounding himself with a shot to the chest. Van Gogh had extensive knowledge of literature and art, was a thinking, educated man, who could express himself virtuously and eloquently in three languages. We learn this from his numerous letters, preserved thanks to his younger brother Theo and Theo's wife, Johanna. His letters testify that besides his painting talent, he also possessed an undeniable gift for writing. The epistolary legacy of Vincent Van Gogh includes more than seven hundred letters, which reflect the evolution of his theoretical principles and reveal the truth about the life of an artist whose work remained unknown during his lifetime and is now recognized as invaluable. Van Gogh's letters debunk the common notion of him as a madman and reveal the true extent of this bright, expressive, and gifted master.