Van Gogh realized that he needed help. He went to a mental hospital. While he was there, he continued to paint. In fact, in the last 70 days of his life, he painted a picture every day. He painted one of his best works, Starry Night, while he was looking out from his bedroom window at the hospital. Van Gogh went in and out of mental hospitals for many months. In May of 1890, he seemed much better and went to live in Auvers-sur-Oise under the watchful eye of Dr. Gachet.
On July 27, 1890, Vincent walked to a wheat field and shot himself in the chest. He stumbled10 back to his lodging, where he died two days later, on July 29, with Theo at his side. He was buried in Auvers on July 30. Among the mourners11 were Lucien Pissarro, Emile Bernard, and Père Tanguy. Bernard described how Vincent’s coffin was covered with yellow flowers, “his favorite color.... Close by, too, his easel12, his camp stool, and his brushes had been placed on the ground beside the coffin.”
Vincent’s paintings were left to Theo, but his true legacy will be realized in his powerful influence on artists of the twentieth century. Theo held a memorial exhibition of Vincent’s paintings in September 1890 in his Paris apartment.
Theo was full of sorrow over his brother’s death. He became sick and died only six months later. He was just 33 years old. Theo’s widow, Johanna, worked hard to make van Gogh and his paintings well known. Less than 30 years after his death, van Gogh was called one of the greatest artists of all time.
Quotes
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.
Conscience13 is a man’s compass.
I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.