Vincent van Gogh He was a Dutch painter and one of the greatest exponents of post-impressionism. His work was very extensive, since he came to paint more than 900 paintings and 1,600 drawings , but in this article we will not talk about his wonderful art. Everything that surrounded the painter during his life, was full of mystery and many stories that are told about him are not true at all. One of the mysteries that brings the experts to the fore is the answer to the question of how Van Gogh died . If you want to know some theories, you only have to read this article.
This famous painter died very young, at 37 years of age, and in the midst of very serious depressive episodes. In principle, it was accepted that Van Gogh died due to a wound caused by it when firing with a revolver. Although later other theories arose, each more convoluted, such as suicide or accidental death. There are numerous theories about how Van Gogh died , well studied each and every one of them can be quite plausible. In this article we are going to try to shed light on this mysterious issue that could be more complicated than it was supposed to be.
How Van Gogh died | Hypothesis about his death
1. Death by bullet wound
This is the official version of the death of the artist. Due to the strong depression he suffered, on July 27, 1890 while walking in the countryside He decided to end his life by shooting himself with a revolver in his stomach . However, he did not manage to die on the spot and the mortal wound caused his death two days later at the Ravoux pension. He died in the arms of his brother Theo, the only friend and confidant he had in his life.
Those who defend that the painter did not commit suicide, argue that no letter of suicide was found . What they actually found was a draft of a letter to his brother who never wrote.
Another point to note is that it was subsequently shown that the painter bought a lot of material . He has no logic that, if he planned to commit suicide, he would buy more instruments to expand his work. Further, the weapon with which the wounds were produced was never found and the shots are not the best suited to commit suicide, since a person who wants to die quickly does not shoot himself in the stomach.
2. Accidental death
Two writers, named Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, produced a biography of the artist, in which they claim that Vincent Van Gogh died due to a revolver shot but accidentally . According to them, two brothers who vacationed in the area shot the painter while playing something with the gun.
The two authors claim that both kids were known to the painter, so he did not want to incriminate them when the misfortune took place. In their investigation they studied the testimonies about suicide, assuring that they are not solid at all and that in the statements of the two children showed clear signs of guilt .
If you are interested, read: "Van Gogh: Life" by Naifeh and White Smith
3. Murder
This is perhaps the most outlandish theory, although, if we take into account the documents of the time that the authors mentioned above found, it may not be so rare. In this hypothesis a name arises, that of the young René Secrétan. This boy, who had been educated in Paris, He had a great influence on the rest of the young people in the area due to his good economic position . One of the witnesses said that the painter was not in the corn field in which he was allegedly injured, but that he was on the road that led to the house of the young Secrétan. The gang of this boy ran into Van Gogh and decided humiliate him publicly with the misfortune that the weapon that René was carrying accidentally shot . The painter was the subject of the jokes of the panda of friends, since they lived nearby, and due to the character of the artist was quite prone to humiliations. The urchin himself declared that the gun was his, but that it was fired at the least thoughtful moments. The wealthy family he had no problems covering the incident , since they enjoyed great prestige at the time .
The only thing that is clear about how Van Gogh died , is that this death contains a great mystery. Was it a suicide caused by the painter's torment? A simple child's play that went awry? or a bravado with disastrous consequences? Anyway, this matter has more crumb than it seemed at the beginning, it seems that at the time it tried to cover something more twisted even, although perhaps accidental, that a suicide. Now we would be happy to hear your opinion. What hypothesis convinces you more about how Van Gogh died? Are the Secrétan brothers related to his death? Was it a simple suicide? We are looking forward to reading you!