Van Gogh Murdered?

van-gogh-guy.jpg

The death of Vincent Van Gogh is the stuff of legend: Depressive, half-crazy, the Dutch painter takes his own life on the 27th of July 1890. For two persistent American Sherlock Holmes, however, this suicide was really a case of murder…

It’s a 123-year-old story that millions are familiar with. The death of Vincent Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise has filled many millions of column-inches ever since. The official story goes that he shot himself in the chest with one bullet on the 27th of July 1890 and spent three days in agony before succumbing to his self-inflicted mortal wound.

But what if it wasn’t suicide? This is the thesis that two American journalists wanted to test and which they lay bare in a book just released in France which claims that Van Gogh was in fact murdered by two youths from the town.

But in the timeless and picturesque town of Auvers-sur-Oise (which is well worth a detour for anyone on holiday in France, by the way) where 110,000 tourists come to gather at the burial place of the artist every year, this murder theory by interfering Americans holds no water.

Van Gogh apparently stole the pistol that mortally wounded him: this is the basis of the murder thesis. For the journalists, the shot was fired from a distance by its owner. But for Alain Rohan, author of a book on armed murder, the other witnesses of the time, and most notably the son of the famous Docteur Gachet, give credence to the suicide scenario.

The two authors are Harvard degree holders and were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1991. They have already sold 40,000 copies of their book.

On the spot, people remain sceptical, but even if the Tourist Office of Auvers-sur-Oise is not officially convinced by this theory, it will be selling some copies of the book.

For anyone curious to check the story by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, see below…

Third-party content not available.
To activate the content, please click "Accept" on the banner at the top of this page. Please first read our Privacy Policy to learn more about such third-party content

scroll to top

We use cookies on this website primarily to improve its functionality. Along with typical standard cookies, we also use cookies and content from Google (maps, YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter) to improve the performance of this site. In order to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Requirements, all cookies and content from Google, Twitter, Facebook and co. are deactivated by default. They will only be activated once you click "Accept" to allow the use of cookies and third-party content. If you initially choose not to accept cookies, you will not be able to watch videos or access other media content on this site. However, you can change this setting on any page containing third-party media by selecting the option to allow content. On the Privacy Policy page under “Cookies” you have the option to give or revoke your consent to the use of cookies. For more information please click the link below to read our: Privacy Policy

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close