Remembering Vincent

"Vincent van Gogh died on this date in 1890. He had shot himself in the chest in a wheat field two days before, and managed to make it home to his own bed. The doctor decided not to remove the bullet, and his brother Theo was sent for. He rushed from Paris to his brother's bedside and reported that van Gogh's last words were "The sadness will go on forever."

I just finished reading Van Gogh's biography...the HUGE one!  Such a terribly sad life indeed.  I had no idea that his mental illness started so soon in life and that he had so much suffering for so long.  

The quote above (from Garrison Keillor's daily poem blog) is basically correct but according to the authors in my most recent book about his life, the gunshot wound was VERY mysterious and his painting equipment which he was seen leaving with in the wheat field was never found...they completely disappeared. The location of the wound was strange for a suicide attempt and Vincent did not own a gun and why would he then walk a good distance back into the village after wounding himself if it was a suicide?  The circumstances of anyone having a hand gun in the town where he was located was unlikely.  

Another plausible theory is that he was assaulted, robbed, and shot.  But he never told anyone that even though he died slowly and was able to talk for awhile.  All very mysterious. 

The painting above is my favorite, by the way.  Sorry it's not a good clear picture.  I love the sunflowers and Starry Night, of course.  But this is my favorite.  When I first came upon it in the original I stood for a long long time before it.  It's quite small.