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 explanation for van Gogh's behavior. Dr. John G. Gunderson, an expert on borderline personality disorder, concurs that van Gogh's "longings for love, his sudden mood changes (and most particularly his seemingly unpredictable and unwarranted rages), and his pattern of impulsive acts, including substance abuse, are all recognizable components of the borderline syndrome...whether Van Gogh was borderline or not, it is a useful prism through which to view his troubled life. The possibility that van Gogh might have suffered some form of chronic sunstroke was advocated strongly by Roch Grey. Vincent described the effects of the Arles sun in a letter: