Biography: Vincent Van Gogh – Part 10

Today as a great artist Vincent Van Gogh is memorialized for his paintings, but in his day he suffered greatly from manic depression, a form of mental illness that is now treatable with medication.

Some think the major influence on Van Gogh’s art was from manic depression that gave him a different view of the world around him.

Viewing his major work in museums, the paintings show expression about a different world aside from the ordinary world.

In some ways, Van Gogh’s work seems to be primitive for the landscapes, and because he does not show the educated styles of other artists from his day.

In today’s Van Gogh might not have led such a tortured world and with the help of medications and counseling could have led a normal life without the conflict and anguish that dominated his life. Would he still have been an artist? Maybe, maybe not.

On the other hand, he might have lived his life in a mental institution with limits on his ability to paint.

What art offered was the ability to express on canvas his views and feelings about life and the world around him.

Now manic depression has found its way into ‘pop culture,’ beginning in the 60’s with Jimmy Hendrix song line and in the 80’s, 90’s, and on by the fast paced electronic life people lead until they experience chronic sensory overload.

Van Gogh might have had a Lexus to run down the highway with a cell-phone on his ear and high tech workplace in today’s world.

In the 19th century when someone was eccentric, or mentally ill, they were often isolated from society living lives filled with despair and conflict.

One thing for certain, Vincent Van Gogh could paint without equal as seen in the many works he produced over his lifetime.

But, as some said, he gave his work away largely, and a lot of it was not appreciated, with much of his life’s work not extant because it was discarded.

Van Gogh, the artist, and as a manic depression study, all make points in his the character study, and remember, emulate the artist, not the biography.

And think about the strides that have been made in mental health since Van Gogh’s day, which at times leaves young students in Arts and Humanities to appreciate Van Gogh and the unusual lives some people lead when they have differences from the ordinary outlook on life.