19 replies to this topic

[Ken70]

[quote name='DingoGirl' date='Jun 20 2007, 03:40 PM' post='317525']
that is a crackup. I don't think he *knew* at all that wheat was killing him, just as I and many of us didn't know......but it WAS killing him and so the great irony is that he painted his killer while NOT knowing it was his killer.


Don't be so sure. I've "known" for almost twenty years but never really knew until now. Can you see the distinction? When I look at that painitng I see ghostly images, nothing in focus. A path that leads to nowhere. Crows symbolic of death. The afterlife in the heavens. The giant wheat field enveloping him on earth, drawing him in, killing him. I think he knew. He might not have been concious or aware but if he had listened to his gut...who knows? It's a fun theory anyway. Don't take me too seriously.

[teemaree]

Hi Ken,
I know this is an old thread, but I am truly fasinated by this, and you also have me wondering and asking questions.
Van Gogh has always fasinated me, his life and paintings. And I see a strong link between celiac and his mental and physical life.
And I tend to agree with your theory.
It is very strange also that he did paint so many pictures of wheat.

links to other wheat paitings
http://www.vangoghga...in-a-Field.html
http://www.vangoghga...Near-Arles.html
http://www.vangoghga...eat-Fields.html
http://www.vangoghga...h-a-Reaper.html
http://www.vangoghga...th-Peasant.html
http://www.vangoghga...at-Sunrise.html
http://www.vangoghga...er-Millet).html
http://www.vangoghga...th-Cypress.html
http://www.vangoghga...eat-Fields.html
http://www.vangoghga...s-of-Wheat.html
http://www.vangoghga...ields,-The.html
http://www.vangoghga...eat-Stacks.html
http://www.vangoghga...hite-House.html
http://www.vangoghga...louded-Sky.html
http:/http://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/756/Wheat-Fields-with-Auvers-in-the-Background.
html/www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/745/Wheat-Field-with-Cornflowers.html
http://www.vangoghga...with-Crows.html

As he drew closer to his death, he did paint more pictures of wheat and also they appear darker and erratic, and I am sure if I study these pictures further I will make other discoveries.

I also believe you, when you think that he may have been a celiac..
As we all know, not a real lot of people know about celiac, and nothing at all was known back in them times.
But many of his symptoms do relate...

examples
they blame sun stoke?
Because Van Gogh strived for realism in his paintings he was often painting outdoors especially during his times in the South of France. Some of his episodes of hostility and the nausea and "bad stomach" he refers to in his letters may have been the effects of sunstroke.

Thujone poisoning
In order to counter act his attacks of epilepsy, anxiety, and depression, Van Gogh drank absinthe, a toxic alcoholic drink popular with many artists at the time. Thujone is the toxin in absinthe. Unfortunately, the Thujone worked against Van Gogh aggravating his epilepsy and manic depression.


Due to Van Gogh's extreme enthusiasm and dedication to first religion and then art coupled with the feverish pace of his art production many believe that mania was a prominent condition in Van Gogh's life. However, these episodes were always followed by exhaustion and depression and ultimately suicide. Therefore, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or manic depression makes sense with the accounts of these episodes in Van Gogh's life.

(source http://www.vangoghga...isc/mental.html


van gogh quote
"The diseases that we civilized people labor under most are melancholy and pessimism."

Ken you have given me a thirst to investigate and learn more on this subject.
Thank you!

[chasbari]

I think we would have been deprived of his works. Strong link to creativity and torture/madness......I am much calmer and more normal now, and hardly ever paint! I used to stay up into the wee hours of morning - painting until the sun rose, so consumed I was not able to sleep.

Life is calmer now....and while I wish I had the dramatic urge to paint and express that I once did, I can honestly say that I choose mental health over the days-in-a-row of no sleep and the tortured brain that went with it.
....

I appreciate this observation greatly. The sicker I became the more desperate my composing became. I couldn't sleep at night, I think at times to avoid the pain of having to wake up with not only rheumatoid arthritis but also what I now undersand as the pain and brain fog of celiac.
Now that I have been gluten free I have no desire to compose although the clearheadedness has allowed me to write much more clearly.
I was also struggling through near impossible physical obstacles to maintain what was left of my operatic voice as it was becoming harder by the day to find the strength to do what was necessary to overcome the physical problems that were shutting my voice down. Once I went gluten-free I found the road to vocal wellness but, I no longer have the desire to sing. Maybe all the pathos involved in role prep is just too much for me too live through after what I have been going through for the last 2 decades. Lots of adjustments to be made.
I also note that there are mental health issues in my family that I now begin to see as a manifestation of celiac as they are from the side of the family I suspect I have inherited this from.
CS