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
Maison Van Gogh of a house in Cuesmes occupied by a miner named Decrucq and his family. From there he wrote to his brother Theo that he was considering what purpose he could give to his life; inspired by the lives of the miners, he started to produce drawings. From 1880, he started painting in earnest. Maison Van Gogh Maison Van Gogh (or Van Gogh House) is a museum in the village of Cuesmes, near Mons in Belgium. Vincent Van Gogh lived here from 1879 to 1880. Cuesmes is in the Borinage, at that time a coal-mining area; Vincent van Gogh came here