Strange Sight | CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND UNSOLVED CASES

Vincent Van Gogh

[OVERVIEW]

Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch Post-impressionist painter. In just a little over a decade je created 2,100 artworks. His most famous works are The Starry Night, Van Gogh self portrait and Irises, which were all created in 1889 while in a mental institution.

[TROUBLED YOUTH]

Vincent was born on March 30, 1853. He was the oldest child of Theodorus and Anna. He had 5 younger siblings. He formed a very close relationship to his brother, Theo.

Although Vincent got good grades, he left secondary school. He began to work Goupil & Cie as an apprentice International art dealership. However, 2 days after his birthday in 1876, he was dismissed from the company.

He spent 5 years wondering around Europe he returned home and moved back in with his parents in 1881.

Theo, who had become manager of Goupil, had begun sending money to Vincent. Vincent always promised to pay him back. For the next few years Vincent would move out to pursue his art but would always end up having to come back home.

In 1884, Vincent wanted to start paying Theo back. He woukd try to sell his art but his style was not what people liked, yet. He continued his journey and afyer a few years the art style most associated with Van Gogh was beginning to take form. He started using shorter brush strokes and used brighter subjects such as portraits or city scenes.

Unfortunately, around this same time, his mental health has been declining.

In 1888 he cut off his own ear and gave it to a sex worker as a gift. Je had to stay at a hospital until 1889. He still struggled with his mental health and checked himself into a psychiatric hospital.

During his stay he created approximately 150 pieces. The Starry Night depicts the view from the window in his room in the asylum, enhanced a bit by his imagination.

After a few months as the hospital he left.

[DEATH]

On July 27, 1890, he left the hotel he was staying in. He had his easel and painting supplies.

Vincent returned to the inn around dinner time. The other guests were outside eating when Vincent returned. He didn't speak a work to anyone and had none of his belongings that he took with him. He also had his jacket buttoned all the way up, despite the heat. Vincent was also clutching his abdomen. After foung upstairs, the manager of the inn decided to check on Vincent.

When asked what was wrong Vincent replied "I wounded myself," and lifted his jacket to reveal a bullet hole under his ribs.

Vincent died 2 days later on July 29, 1890.

[SUICIDE]

The first theory is the official story, and that is Vincent really did commit suicide. Vincent was a very troubled person. He told them he went to the fields and shot himself with a revolver.

He also told police "do not accuse anyone. It is I who wanted to kill myself.

He also once stated before the incident that he would "cease to exist" if he ever felt like a burden to his brother.

And when the doctor told Vincent there was a possibility to save his life, Vincent replied with "then I'll just have to do it again.

As said before, suicide is the official cause of death and this version was popularized in 1934 by Irving Stone who wrote a book about the troubled painter.

However, not everyone believed the story of suicide.

[MURDER]

Biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory Smith had an alternative theory. Vincent was accidentally shot and he wanted to protect the ones who did it. Why would he wanna protect them? Because they were just kids.

Vincent would go to town on order to paint. Every time there were a few teenage boys who loved to pull pranks on him. They would put salt in his coffee. They would put chili pepper juice on Vincent's paint brushes that he tended to put in his mouth. They also once put a snake in his paint box. One of these boys were René Secrétan. He once said "our favorite game was making him angry, which was easy to do."

His older brother, Gaston, was an aspiring artist who like to hear Vincent's stories. Vincent liked Gaston and so he tolerated René.

After seeing a Buffalo Bill show he had returned with full cowboy attire, including a working .380 caliber pistol.

Vincent would call René "Puffalo Pill" because of his accent, but it always angered René.

Steven and Gregory believe that René was showing off his gun to his brother and some friends when he accidentally made it go off, shooting Vincent. In shock the boys took Vincents things and destroyed them so no one could find them.

There are a few things that could point to this theory.

Vincent said he shot himself and passed out for a few hours and when he came back to he tried to find the gun to finish the job, but he couldn't find the gun. So he made the mile long trip back to the inn.

Shooting yourself right below the ribs is an odd position to try to kill yourself. If he was aiming for his heart, like he had said, why did he shoot below the ribs?

The bullet had an entrance, but there was no exit would. For this partial gun it woukd suggest there was some distance between the gun and Vincent, more distance than Vincent was able to achieve.

In 2014, Steven and Gregory went to handgun expert, Dr. Vincent Di Maio to review the forensic evidence surrounding Van Gogh's death. Di Maio noted that to shoot himself in the left abdomen Van Gogh would have had to have held the gun at a very awkward angle, and that there would have been black powder burns on his hands and tattooing and other marks on the skin around the wound, none of which is noted in the contemporary report. He said in his opinion, Van Gogh did not shoot himself.

Another problem some had was if he had passed out for a few hours as he said, there would have been more blood. With the amount of blood on him when he returned it had looked like it just happened, not that it happened hours ago.

The next day people searched the fields for the gun and Vincent's things but found nothing. There was no evidence of him ever being there. This ties in with the fact that other people at the inn went the opposite way, which was towards a spot where René loved to fish.

Vincent was also very vocal against suicide. He believed it was "wines" and demostrated "moral cowardice." However, he had talked about suicide before. He said if he ever were to kill himself it would be by drowning.

After Vincent's death, René, Gaston and their father left town for a little while. When they returned René, who always carried his revolver, no longer had his gun. When asked abour it he claimed Vincent stole it from him.

In the 1930's, as Vincent's work was beginning to gain notoriety, townspeople told am art historian that young boys accidentally shot Vincent but he wanted to protect their identities for fear they would be accused of murder.

When René grew up he became a successful business man and was asked about Vincent. He stated that he did torment Vincent but denied shooting him.

[THOUGHTS]

Do you believe Vincent killed himself or do you think René accidentally shot him?

[NOTE]

So im sorry I havent updated in a little while. Its important to me to work on each chapter thoroughly. I don't want to miss anything, I want to get as much facts as I can, plus I wanna weed out any bullshit. And sometimes that can take a while.

As always, if you have any requests (theories, killer files, unsolved cases...) comment them and I'll see what I can find!