Vincent Van Gogh died from a gun wound, two days after it was inflicted, on 27th July 1890.  He had returned to his lodgings in Auvers-Sur-Oise.  The artist was 37 when he died. If Vincent Van Gogh had died when his works were selling for millions of dollars the inquest into his death would have been thorough, but he didn’t and it wasn’t.

With the new Van Gogh Exhibition now underway at London’s Royal Academy, which displays the so called “suicide note”, it seems a good time to re-examine the evidence and ask: did Vincent Van Gogh commit suicide or was he murdered? Many accounts of Vincent Van Gogh’s death cite the letter found on his person after the shooting incident as his “suicide note”. This “suicide note” conclusion should be suspected. Firstly, unusually for a suicide note, the letter was unfinished and made no mention of an intended suicide or reasons for taking his life. Secondly, this document is actually an unfinished letter to the artist’s brother Theo. It reads:My dear brother,

Thanks for your kind letter and for the 50 francs note in contained.

There are many things I should like to write to you about, but I feel it useless. I hope you have found those worthy gentlemen favorably disposed toward you.

Your reassuring me as to the peacefulness of your household was hardly worth the trouble, I think, having seen the weal and woe of it for myself. And I quite agree with you that rearing a boy on a fourth floor is a hell of a job for you as well as for Jo.

Since the thing that matters most is going well, why should I say more about things of less importance? My word, before we have a chance to talk business more collectedly, we shall probably have a long way to go.

The other painters, whatever they think, instinctively keep themselves at a distance from discussions about the actual trade.

Well, the truth is, we can only make our pictures speak. But yet, my dear brother, there is this that I have always told you, and I repeat it once more with all the earnestness that can be expressed by the effort of a mind diligently fixed on trying to do as well as possible - I tell you again that I shall always consider you to be something more than a simple dealer in Corots, that through my mediation you have your part in the actual production of some canvases, which will retain their calm even in the catastrophe.

For this is what we have got to, and this is all or at least the main thing I can have to tell you at a moment of comparative crisis. At a moment when things are very strained between dealers in pictures of dead artists, and living artists.

Well, my own work, I am risking my life for it and my reason has half foundered because of it--that's all right--but you are not among the dealers in men as far as I know, and you can still choose your side, I think, acting with humanity, but que veux-tu?

Apart from not mentioning anything about his intention to commit suicide the letter alludes to matters which would encourage anyone – even this reportedly depressed artist – to live on. Among these are his young nephew, his brother Theo and Theo’s wife Jo. The evidence of the enclosed 50 Francs, shows that Vincent was still part of a supportive family. It also proposes continuing the discussions the Van Gogh brothers were having in the sentence:

“My word, before we have a chance to talk business more collectedly, we shall probably have a long way to go”.

Further Doubts Cast by a Witness Account

Adeline Ravoux knew Vincent at the time of his supposed suicide. Although she believed he did indeed commit suicide she left testimony which casts more doubt on the verdict. Adeline Ravoux’s full account can be read HERE

Adeline was aged 13 at the time of Van Gogh’s death. That she knew him is beyond doubt as she was the daughter of Van Gogh’s landlord and sat for the artist, who painted her portrait known as Rhapsody in Blue. This portrait was sketched in another letter to his brother, Theo, and formed the basis of a further painted portrait.

Vincent told Adeline’s father, when he returned to his lodgings with the fatal bullet wound, (according to her hearsay testimony) that he had inflicted the fatal gun wound. He also repeated this (again according to her hearsay testimony) on his deathbed to her father and to Theo who had rushed from Paris to be with his brother. None of this testament negates the possibility that Vincent was covering up for his assailant. It is quite possible that Vincent told them a different truth – that he was shot by another person – but he had them both promise that they should never divulge this as his last dying wish. If this theory is implausible, the matter of the missing suicide/murder weapon is not.

The Issue of the Missing Revolver

In Adeline’s account Vincent says he shot himself with a revolver and fainted. Later he woke up but could not find the revolver to finish the job. So, [instead of finishing the job another way], he returned home to his lodgings where he received some medical attention.

The revolver was never found and, although it would have seemed reasonable for the police officials who questioned Vincent on his deathbed (as mentioned by Adeline), no search was for it. A murderer would have removed the weapon from the scene and ensured it was never found. Therefore, on this evidence alone, we conclude that Vincent Van Gogh did not commit suicide.   Vincent Van Gogh was murdered. 

see Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh below

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Image from Wikipedia Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh