After some months, however, Vincent turns once again to painting, which proves therapeutic but does not ameliorate the epileptic seizures he now suffers. Peyron diagnoses him with chronic inertia and terror. Vincent begs Theo to commit him to a sanitarium in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, where Dr. Roulin tends to him, but the locals mock Vincent, driving him to another state of collapse. Crazed with grief, Vincent takes the razor he had earlier brandished at his friend and cuts off a portion of his ear.īy the time Gauguin returns for his things the next morning, Vincent is near death from the blood loss. The two men are soon squabbling regularly over their respective works and Vincent's increasing dependence on Gauguin, and one day, their fight turns physical, causing Gauguin to storm out. Vincent, overjoyed to have the company of his beloved role model, fails to notice Gauguin's aversion to Arles's tranquility and Vincent's obsession with art. Theo, who has since married a Dutch woman named Johanna, is desperate to ease his brother's pain and so pays Gauguin to stay with Vincent in Arles. He still paints day and night, often forgetting to eat. ![]() Autumn, however, brings winds so strong that he can no longer work outdoors, and in lonely misery, Vincent turns to alcohol for solace. Theo's rent money allows Vincent to paint uninterrupted, roused by the golden fields and sunlight. There, he is soon thrown out of his rooms for using the landing as storage for his numerous paintings, so local man Roulin helps him secure a house at a reasonable price. After Vincent meets the virile, fiery painter Paul Gauguin, he is inspired to move south to Arles in order to paint in complete isolation. Theo remains Vincent's greatest advocate but wearies of his brother's aggressive, obsessive personality. He absorbs their philosophies but still searches for a visual language of his own, one that will express the beauty of nature and transfer emotion to the canvas. There, Vincent is transfixed by the local Impressionist painters, including Camille Pissarro and Georges Seurat. With nowhere else to go, Vincent turns to Theo, who has helped support him financially over the years, and who now invites him to Paris. Vincent returns home, where he forges a new painting style inspired by the workers of the nearby fields, but his eccentric ways offend the neighbors, and soon his sister Willemien presses him to leave. Over time, however, their hot-tempered personalities and constant lack of money prompt Christine to leave Vincent just as he learns that Theodorus has died. The discovery of color and his love for Christine inspires a feverish period of creativity for Vincent. Eager for feedback, Vincent brings his paintings to his cousin, successful artist Anton Mauve, who encourages Vincent and provides him with color paints with which to experiment. Soon, they share an apartment in The Hague, along with her infant son. In a nearby bar, Vincent meets another lonely, desperate soul, a prostitute named Christine, and the two turn to each other for support and affection. ![]() The infatuated Vincent follows her to her family home, where he holds his hand over a candle flame to prove his devotion, only to learn that Kay has said she is disgusted by him. One day, Vincent confesses his love to Kay, after which she flees the house in aversion. ![]() At the same time, he battles with his father Theodorus, a pastor, over Vincent's new concept of God as a being one can serve through love and art rather than just through formulaic ritual. Vincent's widowed cousin Kay moves in with the family for the summer, and although Vincent offends her by suggesting that one year is enough for her to mourn her late husband, her presence cheers him, and soon he falls in love. There, Vincent writes Theo passionate letters about the drawings he has undertaken, a new interest that keeps the volatile Vincent in good spirits, as it allows him a method of capturing "the poetry hidden in everyday images." After he falls into a depression, however, he is rescued by his devoted brother Theo, who sends Vincent back to their family home in Holland. They strip him of his duties, but Vincent, who wants desperately "to be of use" in life and escape his past failures, remains nonetheless. After some months, the church reverends come to inspect Vincent's work and are horrified to discover that he has donated all of his possessions to the locals and is living in ascetic poverty. Although Vincent is not a stirring preacher, his eagerness to ameliorate his parishioners' suffering leads him to work alongside them in the filthy, dangerous mines. In Holland during the late 1880s, Vincent van Gogh fails his training to become an Evangelical priest, but upon pleading with the committee to put him to use, is assigned to the miserably poor coal-mining region of the Borinage in Belgium.
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