Did Van Gogh Shoot Himself? Auction of Handgun Reignites Dispute.

The auction of a handgun stated to have been utilized by the painter Vincent van Gogh to shoot himself has reignited an argument about who in fact shot: Did Van Gogh dedicate suicide, or was he shot by another person?

The weapon will be auctioned in France on Wednesday (June 19), where it’s anticipated to cost more than $50,000

For several years, a lot of Van Gogh professionals have actually accepted the description that he shot himself in the chest with a handgun in a suicide in July1890 [30 of the World’s Most Valuable Treasures That Are Still Missing]

Such a weapon was discovered more than 70 years later on, in a field near the French farming town of Auvers-sur-Oise where Van Gogh passed away, and it has actually extensively been accepted as the weapon he utilized to shoot himself.

Van Gogh survived on for 30 hours prior to passing away from the injury. His last words, according to his bro Theo, were “the unhappiness will last permanently.”

In the years because his death, the Dutch expressionist painter, who cut off his left ear in a disagreement with the painter Paul Gauguin has actually ended up being the archetype of a despairing, self-destructive artist conquered by anxiety.

However in 2011, biographers Gregory White Smith and Steven Naifeh argued that Van Gogh didn’t shoot himself, however was shot inadvertently by 16- year-old René Secrétan, who was investing the summertime in the town.

According to their bio “Van Gogh: The Life” (Random Home, 2011), Secrétan and his bro both befriended and bullied Van Gogh when he remained at Auvers– which Secrétan had the weapon included.

Based upon a variety of sticking around secrets about the last hours of Van Gogh’s life, the authors proposed that the artist was shot throughout a scuffle with Secrétan; then, he suggested that he had actually shot himself, in order to cover for the kids, they composed in an essay in Vanity Fair

The theory that Van Gogh was shot by another is challenged by some professionals on the life of the artist. However Naifeh informed Live Science that he was more persuaded than ever that Secrétan shot Van Gogh.

Secret weapon

The weapon being auctioned in Paris next week is a Belgian-made 7mm Lefaucheux revolver– a popular little quality pistol at that time.

The weapon matches the description of the 7mm bullet drawn from Van Gogh’s body by his medical professional, and it is thought that its low power might be why Van Gogh didn’t pass away right away, however staggered back to his hotel with the bullet still lodged in his chest.

The handgun was discovered by a farmer in 1965– 75 years after Van Gogh’s death– in a field at Auvers, terribly worn away and beyond usage. It was then offered to the household who owned the hotel where Van Gogh passed away.

Grégoire Veyrès, the auctioneer for Auction Art who is performing the sale, informed Live Science that an examination by the author Alain Rohan figured out that the rusty weapon had actually been buried in the ground for a minimum of 50 years. [In Photos: Van Gogh Masterpiece Reveals True Colors]

Rohan’s investigative work was accepted as legitimate by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which showed the weapon in a 2016 exhibit about the artist’s mental disorder, Veyrès stated.

According to Rohan’s examination, the area where the weapon was discovered matched the description of a field where Van Gogh had actually been painting, and where he is stated to have actually shot himself. The weapon was likewise discovered with its trigger opened, which might suggest that it had actually been fired prior to it was disposed of.

Death disputed

According to Van Gogh professional Martin Bailey, who composes routinely on the artist for the Art Paper in London, the weapon is accepted amongst lots of Van Gogh scholars as the weapon that he utilized to take his own life.

” I think it extremely likely, although not specific, that it is the real weapon,” Bailey informed Live Science, including that the Van Gogh Museum had actually likewise mentioned there was a “likelihood” that this was the weapon he utilized.

While the 2011 bio by Smith and Naifeh was “exceptional,” he stated, lots of Van Gogh professionals didn’t accept their theory.

” I am persuaded that it was suicide, not murder or murder,” he stated. “Van Gogh’s household and buddies thought it was suicide.”

Naifeh, who won a Pulitzer Reward with Smith in 1991 for their bio of the American painter Jackson Pollock, stated his conversations with forensic professionals had actually enhanced his belief that Secrétan shot the artist.

” I have just end up being more persuaded that it is most likely that he was shot in a scuffle than that he wasn’t,” he informed Live Science.

Naifeh kept in mind that there was no proof connecting the weapon either to Van Gogh or to the way of his death.

” What forensic proof exists to connect Vincent van Gogh to this weapon? And, even if there were forensic proof connecting Vincent to this weapon, what does this state about who shot?” he asked: “Those are the 2 huge concerns, and I do not see any responses.”

Although Van Gogh is among the most popular artists worldwide– among his paintings of a farmed field, finished a year prior to his death, cost $81 million in 2017— he offered just one painting throughout his life time, for 400 francs.

The most costly Van Gogh painting to date was cost $82 million in 1990, the “ Picture of Dr. Gachet” from1890 Gachet was the medical professional who would eventually attend his death later on that year.

Initial post on Live Science