Lust for Life (novel) Lust for Life (novel) Lust for Life (1934) is a biographical novel written by Irving Stone based on the life of the famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, and his hardships. It was adapted into a film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning one. It is Stone's first major publication and is largely based on the collection of letters between Vincent van Gogh and his younger brother, art dealer Theo van Gogh. They lay the foundation for most of what is known about the thoughts and beliefs of the artist. Stone
Portraits of Vincent van Gogh show the artist's head from the left, i.e. the side with non-mutilated ear. Van Gogh made no self-portraits in Auvers-sur-Oise, during the final weeks of his life. In Nazi Germany, Vincent van Gogh paintings were among those labelled "degenerate art". Works were stolen and/or destroyed by German authorities including the self-portrait dedicated to Paul Gauguin, September 1888, depicted in the black and white picture. Almost at the same time as when his "Catalogue raisonné" was published, Jacob Baart de la Faille had to admit that he had included paintings emerging from dubious sources, and of dubious quality. Shortly after, in