Vincent van Gogh and his illness. A reflection on a posthumous diagnostic exercise

Abstract

Many attempts have been undertaken in the past to perform a proper diagnosis of the illness of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam organized a meeting of experts on this issue in 2016. Publication of a final conclusion in a medical journal is still in progress. This article will first outline the meeting and then reflect on pathobiographical issues offering possibilities and limitations in this posthumous attempt at diagnosis. This will give us a summary of the symptomatology without the intention to label them to a diagnosis. In terms of examples of problematic issues, special attention is given to the role of alcohol abuse and disturbances of consciousness. The essay will try to answer questions on the importance of determining a diagnosis for art historians and visitors of exhibitions. A hypothesis on the possible influence of visual perception on triggering neuromodulation will be discussed and illustrated by considering four paintings. The hypothesis might be that forced activation of the "wrong" neural pathways that do not meet Van Gogh's preferential personal emotional system in moments of increased stress, and influenced by other factors like alcohol abuse and sleep deprivation, can trigger disturbances in functioning of this system. Though it is clear that Van Gogh was an excellent painter in spite of and not thanks to his illness and that he was unable to paint during episodes of brain dysfunction, a few exceptions are known of paintings and drawings that were created during these episodes; his self-portrait from the Oslo museum, which was most recently identified as such, will be shown.

Keywords: Medical biography; Van Gogh; Visual perception.