Vincent Van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890), the Dutch painter who cut off his own earlobe, died on this date in 1890, two days after shooting himself in the chest with a pistol. The postimpressionist painter suffered from depression and epileptoid seizures, which caused him to leave home and move to a house in Arles, France. He was joined there for a time by Paul Gauguin. Though he was a prolific artist — he completed nearly 900 paintings, over 1,000 drawings, 150 watercolors, plus letter sketches and graphic designs — Van Gogh succeeded in selling only one painting in his lifetime. Since his death, his paintings have been sold for many millions of dollars, including the Portrait of Dr. Gachet, which went for $82.5 million in 1990.
Grave of Vincent Van Gogh
Quote: "I can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture." — Vincent Van Gogh
