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Van Gogh: Suicide or accidental death?
🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

Van Gogh: Suicide or accidental death?

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Vincent van Gogh confessed to attempting suicide after returning to his inn room with a severe abdominal wound on July 27, 1890.
  • Despite his confession and a doctor's assessment that the wound was inoperable, doubts about the circumstances of his death persist.
  • A new biography questions Van Gogh's suicide, suggesting accidental shooting by others, while his wife's efforts posthumously cemented his artistic legacy.

Vincent van Gogh returned to his Auvers-sur-Oise inn room on the evening of July 27, 1890, clutching his abdomen. When asked if something was wrong, he cryptically replied, "No, but..." and struggled upstairs. Soon after, groans were heard. The innkeeper, Mr. Ravoux, entered the room to find the painter displaying a wound near his heart, confessing he had tried to end his own life.

No, but...

— Vincent van GoghVan Gogh's cryptic response to the innkeeper when asked if something was wrong.

Ravoux enlisted fellow guest Anton Hirschig to summon Dr. Gachet, Van Gogh's psychiatrist. Gachet examined the wound, bandaged it, and declared it inoperable, a grim reality for the era. Hirschig and Ravoux stayed with Van Gogh through the night. The following morning, gendarmes questioned Van Gogh, who stated, "My body is my own and I am free to do with it as I please. Do not accuse anyone, it was I who wanted to commit suicide." This statement, while a confession, raised more questions than it answered.

My body is my own and I am free to do with it as I please. Do not accuse anyone, it was I who wanted to commit suicide.

— Vincent van GoghVan Gogh's statement to the gendarmes questioning him about his injury.

Van Gogh's brother, Theo, rushed to his side upon hearing the news. Their final exchanges were brief, with Theo later lamenting, "The sadness will last forever." Vincent died at 37, leaving behind an unparalleled artistic legacy. Much of what is known about his final days comes from Johanna Bonger, Theo's wife, who dedicated herself to promoting Vincent's work after Theo's death six months later. She meticulously edited the 668 letters exchanged between the brothers, shaping his image as the archetypal misunderstood genius.

The sadness will last forever.

— Theo van GoghTheo van Gogh's reflection on his brother's death years later.

However, the narrative of Van Gogh's suicide has been challenged. A 2011 biography by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith questions the suicide, citing Van Gogh's own writings that deemed self-harm "sinful and immoral." The authors also raise doubts about how someone in Van Gogh's state could have inflicted such a wound. Furthermore, speculation has arisen that Dr. Gachet and his son, amateur painters themselves, may have created works imitating Van Gogh's style. One of Van Gogh's last paintings, a portrait of Dr. Gachet, notably features the artist holding Digitalis purpurea leaves, a plant used in digitalin, a treatment Vincent received for epilepsy. This medication has been linked to xanthopsia, a condition causing yellow vision, potentially explaining the heightened yellow tones in some of his works. The existence of two versions of this portrait further fuels the ongoing debate.

sinful and immoral

— Vincent van GoghVan Gogh's own writings on the act of suicide, cited in a biography questioning his death.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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