The authors have written a compelling book on the mental health of Vincent van Gogh. The mental and physical diagnoses of van Gogh in his time are examined, as well as several other possible diagnoses that have been proposed over the decades since his death. The author stops short of forming their own opinion, since it is impossible to a modern examination of the patient using the knowledge that has been gained over the years.
As a huge fan of Vincent van Gogh, I appreciated this in-depth look at his health with a timeline of his decline. Even though I have read a lot of about van Gogh's life and his art this was a new approach. ( )

There are untold numbers of biographies of Vincent Van Gogh. This one is different because it comes from a new exhibition at the Van Gogh museum. That means museum researchers and experts had the time and the wherewithal to find original documents and present a coherent and comprehensive story. The story is of Van Gogh’s last years – his most productive, but also his most anguished. All his various maladies came into play to make him ill, depressed and miserable. His teeth had fallen out from consuming only coffee and bread. He often forgot to bathe or eat. He smoked and drank excessively, absinthe being a close personal friend. He had gonorrhea and possibly syphilis. He went through states he had no recollection of. He was in his mid thirties.

The museum team has pulled together original documents from friends, doctors, mayors, police and even a petition form his neighborhood to have Van Gogh committed because he was so frighteningly erratic. It turns out Van Gogh was a scary man. There are images of the actual French documents as well as English translations.

There are also of course, magnificent paintings, as every work referred to in the documents and text is shown in full glorious color. If that were not enough, there are also black and white photos of the some of the same scenes, so you can see just how wild was Van Gogh’s perception of what was before him. “Impressionism” doesn’t do it justice. In his mind, the world was a vastly different place from the dusty, drab and dull scenery the rest lived in in late 19th century France.

So On The Verge of Insanity is not just another bio on the shelf. You can actually decide for yourself, from what you might know, which doctor’s analysis came closest, which diagnoses were more accurate, how difficult the world was for Van Gogh, and how difficult Van Gogh was for the world.

David Wineberg ( )