Van Gogh Murdered

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7384908n&tag=contentMain;contentAux
http://www.amazon.com/Van-Gogh-Life-Steven-Naifeh/dp/0375507485/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319059741&sr=1-1

Murder? Juiclings may have just got over the shock revelations last year, that internationally famous artistic nut job Vincent Van Gogh did not chop his own ear off in a state of a schizoid angst, but rather he lost it in absinthe fueled  sword play with his buddy and sometime drinking partner Paul Gauguin, whom we have learned was an accomplished swordsman.

Van Gogh Murdered?

Pulitzer prize winning authors Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith  have a thousand page tome on the World’s most famous Post-Impressionist released tuesday, and this well researched master-work is creating quite a stir. Entitled “Van Gogh: The Life,” The book states that Van Gogh did not shoot himself in a wheat field as previously thought.


The authors conclude that Van Gogh would not have been able to stumble back to the inn in Auvers-sur-Oise with a serious gunshot wound to the stomach, as the wound was too serious and the journey too arduously long. They also state that the trajectory of the gunshot was highly unusual and the shot fired from an angle  and distance  inconsistent with suicide.  Also cited  is Van Gogh’s uncertainty as to how he received the gunshot, and his insistence that no one else should be questioned in relation to the shooting. Then there is the gun, which was never found.


So how did Van Gogh get shot? The authors state that the great man was shot by a cowboy obsessed local youngster, part of a gang of youths, who had been tormenting the troubled painter for months. A gunshot was heard in a farmyard close to the inn, which would explain  how the artist managed to stumble home, there is conjecture that one of the boys may have been the inn keepers son—a man who kept a gun. A teenage thug with a gun kills by accident? sounds like a very modern scenario,.


But was Van Gogh suicidal?  Naifeh & White Smith reckon not. They cite his diaries, to which they have been given unprecedented access,  by the Van Gogh family. In the diaries the artist discusses, but ultimately rejects the idea of taking his own life. They also state that Van Gogh felt the need to protect his child killers, because one of their fathers was his landlord…


One thing is certain, ugly rumors have been circulating in Auvers-sur-Oise for a hundred years. Now the main figures in this sorry tale are all dead, the real truth can never come out.


Perhaps now is a time for Juiclings to reinvestigate the work of one of the greatest painters of the 20th Century. Read “Van Gogh: The Life,” Certainly, better still, visit the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.


But how do you pronounce the name?
Americans pronounce it Van Go, as in snow
The British pronounce it Van goff, as in cough
The Authoritative Dutch pronunciation is Van Gock as in Clock


So now you know.