The highly emotional, enigmatic, and almost constantly impoverished Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh produced some of the world's most well-known paintings, but he is perhaps more famous for violently cutting off his left ear lobe in 1888 during a particularly unstable time in his life. Mental illness, which may not have been properly diagnosed during the late 1800s, plagued this artistic titan for most of the latter years of his short life.
Van Gogh also suffered from other ailments which, when observed through Chinese Medicine's Five Elements patterns, provides a rare opportunity to venture into the emotions and mind of one of post-Impressionism's greatest pioneers.
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written January 9, 1889, in Arles. HarrisonR. Letters of Vincent van Gogh 1886–1890. Aldershot, UK: Scholar Press, 1977(No. 570).
4.
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written November 14, 1882, in The Hague. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 244).
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Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written c. December 28–30, 1882, in The Hague. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 255).
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Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written early February 1886 in Antwerp. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 448).
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Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written October 12, 1883, in Drenthe. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 332).
8.
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written c. August 2, 1883, in The Hague. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 308).
9.
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written January 28, 1889, in Arles. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 574).
10.
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written May 22, 1889, in Saint-Rémy. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 592).
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written June 29, 1888, in Arles. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 507).
13.
WolfP. Creativity and chronic disease: Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)West J Med., 2001; 175,5:348.
14.
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written January 22, 1882, in The Hague. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 172).
15.
Vincent van Gogh. Letter to Theo van Gogh. Written January 26, 1882, in The Hague. van Gogh-BongerJ. HarrisonR. The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh. Boston, MA: Bulfinch, 1991(No. 173).
