Abstract
The deep-seated problems that beset Vincent van Gogh were not reversed, and his suicide labels the case a medical failure by any standard. However, the events should be placed in the context of nineteenth century medicine, and this may at least allow us to accommodate the sad outcome of the artist’s illness. Brief biographies of some of the doctors who touched van Gogh, either directly or indirectly, will help to round out the picture.
Go and consult a doctor every day, not particularly because a doctor could do something for you that would prove effective, but because the measure of going to see a doctor, etc., would force you to bear in mind, this is nervousness, this is what I am. It is a question of self-knowledge, of serenity notwithstanding all the tricks nerves must play. Vincent to Theo, letter 332, from Drenthe, Fall, 1883.
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Arnold, W.N. (1992). Vincent’s Doctors. In: Vincent van Gogh: Chemicals, Crises and Creativity. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-2976-6_7
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