He Thought He Was a Failure

Fact check

The facts and where they come from

1. He felt like a failure, but today his paintings sell for millions. Letter RM20: “I feel – a failure – that’s it as regards me – I feel that that’s the fate I’m accepting.” Wikipedia: “Van Gogh was unsuccessful during his lifetime and was considered a madman and a failure.” The Conversation: “Most recently this record was smashed in November 2022, when a Van Gogh landscape of Arles from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s collection sold for US$117 million to an anonymous bidder.” 497
2. His name was Vincent van Gogh, a Dutch painter. Wikipedia: he “was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter,” born on March 30, 1853. 9
3. He failed as an art dealer, teacher and preacher. Van Gogh Museum: “In 1878, Van Gogh already had three failed careers under his belt, as an art dealer, a teacher and a bookseller” … “his appointment as a lay preacher (a position that required no official training) wasn’t even renewed.” 1
4. His brother Theo urged him to paint, and sent him money every month. Van Gogh Museum: “He eventually decided to take Theo’s advice and become an artist.” Wikipedia: “after Theo’s suggestion that he take up art in earnest.” The Art Newspaper: Theo “was an art dealer working for the leading Boussod & Valadon gallery” … “It meant that Theo had the resources to provide Vincent with a regular allowance, which enabled him to paint.” In letter RM20 Vincent writes of the allowance, “à 150 par mois” (150 a month). 1964
5. In about ten years, he made more than 800 paintings. Wikipedia: “In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings.” The Art Newspaper: “the almost 1,000 that he completed.” 96
6. Most people rejected them. The Art Newspaper: “Despite encouragement from his avant-garde colleagues, most people simply rejected his work.” 6
7. Only a handful sold. The Art Newspaper: “But even if Van Gogh managed to sell a handful or two of his paintings, this still represents a minute proportion of the almost 1,000 that he completed.” Van Gogh Museum: “We don’t know exactly how many paintings Van Gogh sold during this lifetime, but in any case, it was more than a couple.” 62
8. Struggling with mental illness, he painted The Starry Night in an asylum. Wikipedia: “years of mental illness and poverty.” Wikipedia, The Starry Night: “Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence,” the asylum “where Van Gogh voluntarily admitted himself on 8 May 1889.” 910
9. In a letter he never sent, he wrote, “I feel a failure.” Letter RM20, to Theo and Jo, May 24, 1890: “I feel – a failure – that’s it as regards me – I feel that that’s the fate I’m accepting.” Its editors: “According to Hulsker, who dates this piece of writing to Saturday, 24 May 1890, it was never sent.” … “The fact that this letter nevertheless survived means that Theo found it after Vincent’s death and saved it.” 4
10. In July 1890, he died at 37. Wikipedia gives his dates as “30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890.” 9
11. Just six months later, Theo died too. Van Gogh Museum: “But just six months later, Theo also passed away.” Wikipedia: “With her husband’s death six months after Vincent’s.” Wikipedia dates Theo’s death to January 25, 1891. 31112
12. His widow, Jo, was left with a baby and about 200 worthless paintings. Wikipedia: “Johanna was left a widow with her infant son to support. She was left with only an apartment in Paris filled with a few items of furniture and about 200 then-valueless works of her brother-in-law Vincent.” Van Gogh Museum: “Her husband Theo van Gogh died, leaving Jo with their baby son and an apartment filled with his brother Vincent’s artworks.” 113
13. She lent them to exhibitions and published his letters. Van Gogh Museum: “She sold some of Vincent’s works, loaned others out for exhibitions and – also very importantly – published his letters to Theo.” Wikipedia: “She edited the brothers’ correspondence, publishing the first volume in Dutch in 1914” … “strategic lending some of Vincent’s work to various early retrospective exhibitions.” 311
14. Over a century later, one sold for $117 million. Christie’s: Verger avec cyprès, “Painted in Arles in April 1888,” sold in New York on November 9, 2022, for “USD 117,180,000”; provenance: “Theo van Gogh, Paris (acquired from the artist, 7 May 1888). Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Paris (by descent from the above).” The Conversation: it “sold for US$117 million.” 87
15. He once wrote that one day, people would see they were worth more than the paint. Letter 712, to Theo, Arles, about October 25, 1888: “I can do nothing about it if my paintings don’t sell. The day will come, though, when people will see that they’re worth more than the cost of the paint and my subsistence, very meagre in fact, that we put into them.” 5

Sources

1. Why Did Van Gogh Become an Artist? Van Gogh Museum
2. How Many Paintings Did Vincent Sell during His Lifetime? Van Gogh Museum
3. How Did Vincent van Gogh Become Famous after His Death? Van Gogh Museum
4. Letter RM20, to Theo van Gogh and Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Auvers-sur-Oise, May 24, 1890 (never sent) Vincent van Gogh – The Letters (Van Gogh Museum and Huygens ING)
5. Letter 712, to Theo van Gogh, Arles, about October 25, 1888 Vincent van Gogh – The Letters (Van Gogh Museum and Huygens ING)
6. Why did Van Gogh fail to sell his work? (Martin Bailey, June 3, 2022) The Art Newspaper
7. Van Gogh Museum at 50: Vincent van Gogh and the art market (Frances Fowle, March 22, 2023) The Conversation
8. Verger avec cyprès, lot 22, Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection Part I Christie’s
9. Vincent van Gogh Wikipedia
10. The Starry Night Wikipedia
11. Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Wikipedia
12. Theo van Gogh (art dealer) Wikipedia

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