There is an internet myth that Vincent Van Gogh tried to eat yellow paint, not out of his own insanity, but because he thought that if he painted the inside of himself a deep yellow, that he would be something more than sad. It's all one of those sappy Tumblr creations, a misunderstanding if anything. But even if it is made up, why do we want our artists to be starving, hurting, insane even?
The answer is because Vincent Van Gogh's own insanity is a part of the mass appeal of his work. Our culture loves that he cut off his ear and mailed it to a prostitute, but in reality, the truth is stretched here too, for Van Gogh wasn't able to cut all of his left ear off, rather he only managed to cut off a mere piece and did so during a violent hallucination with no intention of sending it to a girl.
The rumors extend to Van Gogh's suicide. After shooting himself in the abdomen in a wheat field, the rumor claims that he wrote, "The sadness will last forever" in his suicide note. And even this isn't true. It's just another Tumblr creation. In the letter written to his brother Theo, found on Vincent's body after his death, it speaks conversationally of his trade, other artists, and his thankfulness to his brother. The letter on his body didn't read like that of a suicide note and the most profound element of it merely says, "Well, the truth is, we cannot speak other than by our paintings."
Why is it that we feel the need to create a more tastefully colorful insanity for Vincent Van Gogh? Why is his own insanity not enough for public consumption? What allows there to be so many rumors circulating the already interesting truths?
He was in and out of psychiatric care facilities, presumably for a myriad of disorders and illnesses, varying from sunstroke to bipolar disorder and even to epilepsy, however, we'll never know exactly what he suffered from. His career ended when he was 37 and perhaps that's part of the reason we are so obsessed with the life of Vincent Van Gogh separate from his astoundingly intricate paintings.
To learn more about Vincent Van Gogh's life and paintings, visit here.
