AN APPRECIATION: Vincent Van Gogh
(Part IV The Final Months)

When Vincent returned home to Paris in May 1890 he was confronted with the reality of his brother's success. Theo was now married and had a new baby. He was also a successful art dealer although his support and promotion of yet-to-become-popular artists such as Paul Gauguin had put a strain on his relationship with his superiors at the gallery. In sharp contrast, Vincent was all too aware of the failures in his personal life and the seeming failure of his artistic endeavors.

Theo had decorated the apartment with Vincent's paintings and the artist could see how much he had achieved in a short space of time. Friends such as Pere Tanguy, Armand Guillaumin, and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec came to greet Vincent. However, such efforts to convince Vincent of his worth failed to keep his difficult personality from reasserting itself.

After only four days in Paris, Vincent left for Auvers-sur-Oise, about an hour from the city. Theo had arranged for Vincent to be treated by Dr. Paul-Ferdinand Gachet. A close friend of Camille Pissarro and Paul Cezanne, Dr. Gachet had been early supporter of the Impressionists and had guided Pierre-Auguste Renoir through a bout with pneumonia a few years before. He was also an amateur artist, wrote art criticisms and  collected works by many of the artists in the Impressionists' circle. With his understanding of art and experience working in mental hospitals, Dr. Gachet seemed like the perfect doctor to treat the troubled artist.

The doctor and the artist took to each other. Dr. Gachet prescribed that Vincent resume work immediately and Vincent quickly set to work. He also told Vincent to cut back on his drinking and smoking but Vincent ignored that advice.

Vincent took a room in a nearby café where he was also allowed to set up a studio.. He visited the doctor's house frequently as the doctor had given Vincent permission to work in the house and in its surrounding park. Vincent also painted a portrait of Dr. Gachet.

In addition, Vincent would set out on expeditions to paint the orchards and wheat fields surrounding Auvers. He painted thatched roof cottages and flocks of crows. His work was charged with force and emotion.

In June, Theo and his family came to visit. The two brothers spent much time talking. Vincent said that he hoped that they all could come to live together in the country. However, Theo was already ill with bronchitis and chronic nephritis. In addition, his financial situation was precarious because of the rift that had opened with his employers over Theo's support of unpopular artists.

In early July, Vincent traveled to Paris. He had lunch with Lautrec and met with the critic Albert Aurier, who had praised Vincent's work as genius. However, Vincent was dismayed at the way Pere Tanguy was keeping his paintings in a storeroom. More importantly, he quarreled with Theo and his wife.

Perhaps as a result of this quarrel, Theo decided not to visit Vincent as planned later in July but rather to take his family to Holland. Of course, this upset Vincent.

Dr. Gachet was also a source of disappointment. The doctor missed an appointment with Vincent in order to care for another patient. Later, Vincent quarreled with Dr. Gachet over the way . Gachet had hung one of the paintings in his collection.

On July 23, Vincent wrote his last letter to Theo complaining about the uselessness of life. A few days later on July 27, Vincent went out into the fields with a revolver and shot himself in the chest.

Vincent's intention had been to shoot himself in the heart. However, he missed that target and the bullet lodged elsewhere in his chest. Having failed once again, he walked back to the café and went to bed.

That evening the owner of the café wondered why Vincent had not come down to dinner. Finding blood on the stairs, the owner called Dr. Gachet.

When Gachet examined the wound, he found it to be inoperable. When asked for Theo's address, Vincent refused to divulge the requested information. Consequently, Theo did not learn of his brother's suicide attempt until he arrived at his gallery on the following Monday July 28.

Theo immediately went to Auvers. He found Vincent laying in bed smoking his pipe. The two men talked throughout the remainder of the day. At first, Vincent was in good spirits but as the wound became infected, he started to decline. Theo climbed into the bed next to his brother. Vincent died in the early morning hours of July 29, 1890.

Theo, who had been ill beforehand, never recovered from Vincent's death. He died a few months later in January 1891.

Thus, Vincent Van Gogh died an apparent failure whose work was known by only a few artists. His posthumous fame is largely due to the work of Theo's widow Johann Van Gogh-Bonger who kept together and promoted Theo's large collection of Vincent's works and who published the correspondence between the two brothers.

See our profiles of these other Post Impressionists
​Emile Bernard

​Paul Cezanne

​Paul Gauguin

​Henri Toulouse Lautrec

Odlion Redon

Henri Rousseau

George Seurat

​Paul Signac
​
​Vincent Van Gogh ​

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Above: Van Gogh's painting of Dr. Gachet who treated Vincent during his last few months.
​Below: Dr. Gachet's daughter Marguerite.

Above and below: While in Auvers, Vincent ventured out and painted in the surrounding wheat fields.

Vincent also painted scenes of the town and its river. Above: The church in Auvers. Below: The bank of the oise at Auvers.

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Artist appreciation - Vincent Van Gogh​ (Part IV The Final Months)