Vincent van Gogh Van Gogh's fame reached its first peak in Austria and Germany before World War I, helped by the publication of his letters in three volumes in 1914. His letters are expressive and literate, and have been described as among the foremost 19th-century writings of their kind. These began a compelling mythology of Van Gogh as an intense and dedicated painter who suffered for his art and died young. In 1934, the novelist Irving Stone wrote a biographical novel of Van Gogh's life titled "Lust for Life", based on Van Gogh's letters to Theo. This novel and the 1956 film further
Health of Vincent van Gogh kind of stupor. Van Gogh reported his impotence to Theo, his brother, in the summer after he arrived in Arles, and a month later when he wrote to Bernard it seemed to still be very much on his mind. Van Gogh mentioned suicide several times in his letters towards the end of his life, nevertheless Naifeh and Smith note that van Gogh was fundamentally opposed to suicide. Many analytics, such as American psychiatrist Dietrich Blumer, agree that one of the things Vincent van Gogh suffered from was bipolar disorder. This mental illness builds up on itself and will grow stronger