introduction
Fans buy clothes, shoes, and even garbage used by celebrities at high prices, this kind of thing is not uncommon, open a treasure and a fish search, can recommend several pages.
In 2005, Fei Xiang was strangely asked to donate a chest hair in an entertainment program, and later hung up on the website and someone offered a high price of 150,000 yuan; ten years later, many relics of a generation of superstar Mei Yanfang were also auctioned, and when people learned that in addition to clothing and jewelry, there were intimate relics such as intimate clothing, this disrespect for the deceased was immediately condemned countless times.
● Jackie Chan, Mui Yanfang and Tan Yonglin at the charity fundraising conference in 1988
However, this is not only common in the entertainment industry, but also in the art circle. No, a pistol suspected of Van Gogh's suicide was recently sold for 162,500 euros, which is converted into 1.26 million yuan! Leaving aside whether the shot was real or not, Van Gogh's suicide itself is still controversial.
Even the Van Gogh Society said there was no evidence that the leftover gun was formally linked to Van Gogh's death and condemned the commercialization of the respected tragedy.
● The pistol suspected of killing Van Gogh was auctioned off
It is indeed regrettable that a pistol, which has not been confirmed to be formally associated with Van Gogh's death, is so commercially placed on the auction table, and even makes people feel that Van Gogh has experienced pain and not understood, that his works cannot be sold before his death, and that everything related to him after death has become expensive and expensive.
History is in doubt
Van Gogh suffered from depression and mental illness during his lifetime, and was shot in a wheat field two days before his death. After Van Gogh's death, some people began to look for this "most famous weapon in the history of art". Eventually, the pistol, which had been seized in the wheat fields, was put on auction and bought at a high price by individual collectors.
The auction of "the most famous weapon in art history" revived the discussion of Van Gogh's death.
Van Gogh died after more than two months of leaving the Psychiatric Hospital in St. Paul after being shot. It is true that Van Gogh was killed by a pistol, but it is still doubtful whether Van Gogh's death was a suicide or a murder he killed.
● Van Gogh self-portrait
On the one hand, most art historians generally believe that Van Gogh committed suicide. Van Gogh walked into a field and shot himself in the chest with a revolver. Then he staggered back to his hotel room with a gunshot wound. Dr. Gachet and his brother Theo arrived on the news, but Van Gogh had lost the will to live in this world, and after two days of torture, he finally passed away.
On the other hand, there are also biographers who have argued that Van Gogh did not commit suicide, but was shot or injured by an unfriendly teenager. In order to protect the stubborn teenagers, Van Gogh said that he had injured themselves. Perhaps Van Gogh thought that leaving in this way was also a wish. After two days of torture, he died accompanied by his brother.
Van Gogh suffered from depression and mental illness, and there was indeed a possibility of suicide. But The director of Van Gogh's biopic "The Gate of Eternity", Julian. Schnabel believes that Van Gogh spent 80 days in the village of Owe-sur-Oise, during which he created 75 oil paintings on canvas, and he has been working on it, and it is unlikely that he will choose suicide.
● Van Gogh's "Crow in the Wheat Field" (partial)
While the cause of Van Gogh's death has yet to be investigated, another question arises: Is this pistol the same pistol that caused Van Gogh's death?
In July 1890, Van Gogh committed suicide or was shot in a field near Ové-sur-Oise, north of Paris. In 1965, 75 years after Van Gogh's death, a farmer found a revolver with a bullet caliber of 7 mm in the area.
Later, it fell into the hands of a woman whose recent lot in Paris was offered by her descendants. The pistol was also on display in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2016.
Although the bidders were not sure that the gun was Van Gogh's lethal weapon, they believed that the history of the pistol coincided in time. And the bullet size taken from Van Gogh's chest is also the same caliber as the bullet used in this revolver.
● Pistols auctioned off
Whether or not the pistol was related to Van Gogh's death, it felt indeed inappropriate to use Van Gogh's "celebrity effect" to turn the tragedy of such a respected person into a business.
In interpersonal interaction, the celebrity effect has psychological functions such as halo effect, incentive effect, suggestive effect, and diffuse effect. Overall, the celebrity effect is embodied in a relationship of ability, that is, the appeal and influence that dominate others.
● Flowers painted by Van Gogh
In the suspected Van Gogh pistol auction incident, there is such a celebrity effect phenomenon - this pistol has no ornamental value and functional value for the buyer, but just because this pistol is related to Van Gogh, it is given a different meaning.
It's paradoxical that we wouldn't be conspicuous about unrelated things without celebrity connections, but once these things are hooked up with celebrities, our attention is easily diverted and art itself is overlooked. The reason why we regard Van Gogh's artistic status as so important is because he can create paintings with unique styles that reflect his spiritual world, not because he was killed by a gun.
● Van Gogh's "Arles' Bedroom"
As for where should the pistol belong? Let it lie quietly in the museum. If it really carries such a moment of life and death that determined the great artist Van Gogh, it is enough to let it be seen in the museum and let people remember Van Gogh's existence.
As far as art itself is concerned, our focus needs to return to Van Gogh's life experience and his artistic creation.
The life of a "madman" genius
If you want to choose the worst mixed painter, Van Gogh must be on the list. He was poor all his life, financed by his younger brother Theo, and was deeply depressed and mentally ill, suffering from a cold eye during his lifetime, but after his death, he became famous.
● 19-year-old Van Gogh
Van Gogh was not only complained about by his neighbors for his strange behavior, but also forcibly sent to a mental hospital. He once said to himself that he would rather die than make so much trouble.
He was sent to boarding school, where his paintings and foreign languages were outstanding. But he didn't stay anywhere long, leaving school at the age of 16 to apprentice at The Gupil International Art Exchange. Three years later, his younger brother Theo also apprenticed with him. They began to correspond frequently, and in the days that followed, his younger brother Theo was an important economic and spiritual pillar of Van Gogh.
● Van Gogh's sketches
In 1874, when Van Gogh saw the painting "Christ talks to Mary and Martha" by the Dutch painter Rembrandt at the British Museum, he showed a fanatical artistic passion and became a regular visitor to major museums and galleries in London.
For a time, Van Gogh became obsessed with the British pop art of black-and-white prints in newspapers, for which he even collected thousands of pictorials. His eyes are inseparable from the social reality reflected in the newspaper prints, those poor people living in a dirty environment. Influenced by this, his previous works were all black pressed pieces, and the color was gray and heavy.
Van Gogh's father, a church pastor, was influenced by Van Gogh's belief in Christ, and he wanted to find a job as a pastoral assistant to help these trapped people at the bottom. But Van Gogh could not grasp the work of the priesthood well, and he could only be appointed as a missionary.
He wandered around, observing the absenteeism of the porters, observing the farmers in the fields, and drawing them down in the form of sketches. Van Gogh was alone outside and could not sell his paintings, and the impoverished recorder of the underclass of society had to return home.
At home, he liked to observe the work of the weavers—he was attracted by the contrasting colors on the weaving, and some of them began to be used in his work.
During this period, Van Gogh painted the famous work "The Potato Eater". These peasants at the bottom of society eat potatoes in the dim light, and they work hard with their hands in exchange for such a little food.
● Van Gogh's "The Potato Eater"
After Van Gogh's father died, Van Gogh came to Paris. He absorbed a different artistic atmosphere in Paris, and we can see the change of color from his self-portrait.
At first, dark brown was commonly used in self-portraits, but later the colors gradually became brighter and richer.
● Part of Van Gogh's self-portrait
Leaving Paris, Van Gogh stayed in a yellow hotel in the countryside, where he would make his last stop for the rest of his life.
The colors of this place are even more vivid and bright, the colorful buildings reveal the simple enthusiasm of the people, the orange sun shines on the earth, and the golden wheat fields are full of the smell of harvest.
A large amount of golden yellow appears in Van Gogh's works, showing a strong love for golden yellow.
● Golden yellow pigment
Later, he wanted to invite the famous like-minded painter Gauguin to visit here.
So he decorated the room with sunflowers, and while waiting for Gauguin to arrive, he continued to paint a large number of colorful works, including the famous work "Sunflower".
● Van Gogh's "Sunflower"
After Gauguin's arrival, they often painted together. Originally, it was good for two painters to communicate together, but their artistic views were different, so they often quarreled and argued.
On the other hand, Gauguin's paintings were sold well abroad, but Van Gogh's works could not be sold. As a result, Van Gogh was often drunk and depressed, and his behavior became more and more strange. The contradiction between Van Gogh and Gauguin intensified to the point of being out of control.
Gauguin couldn't stand the manic Van Gogh and wanted to get out of here. The emotional Van Gogh threatened Gauguin with a razor and even cut off part of his own ears, which made Gao even more unacceptable. The next day, the local newspaper also reported a sign that read, "The murderer has escaped."
● Van Gogh's Self-Portrait After Cutting Off an Ear
In the hospital room, Van Gogh painted a self-portrait of an ear injury. Subsequently, he was also voluntarily admitted to a mental hospital, and although his mental state was not stable, the hospital approved him to be free to make art.
During this period, Van Gogh produced a large number of paintings, basically a rhythm of painting one painting a day.
But Van Gogh was still plagued by illness, he was lonely, depressed, self-harming, and often swallowed pigments and paraffin wax. His paintings, with contrasting colors, seem to be vibrant scenes, but they are buried with restlessness and even death.
● Van Gogh's "The Wheat Field and the Reaper"
His younger brother, who had been funding him before, had already formed his own family, and could no longer fully fund Van Gogh's free creation.
The departure of relatives and friends, the confusion of the world, the frustration of selling paintings, and the torment of illness all made Van Gogh feel that he was a burden, so he wrote a farewell letter to his brother.
● Van Gogh's tombstone
Four days later, he was found shot lying in his room. The younger brother who heard the news stayed with him for the last time. After two days of torture, Van Gogh, who was only 37 years old, left this world forever.
postscript
In his last letter to his brother Theo before his death, Van Gogh mentioned that he did not want children, and that his works were my descendants.
● Van Gogh's Starry Night on the Rhône (animated)
At the moment van Gogh ended his life, his artistic value was discovered. The greatest respect for a painter should be to return to his work of art, quietly watching his paintings while feeling the state of his paintings. If you like it, then recognize the color he brings to the world.
Resources:
Documentary: Vincent Van Gogh: Painted with Words (2010)
Documentary: The Power of Art – Van Gogh
The Little-Known Death of Van Gogh / Wang Yi
The Death of Van Gogh The Birth of a Legend / Ganmu
"The pistol suspected of Van Gogh's suicide was auctioned in Paris for 160,000 euros" article / Overseas Network
"Foreign media: Suspected Van Gogh suicide revolver will be auctioned for 60,000 euros" text/ reference news network
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