Vincent Van Gogh Mental Disorders Essay

Introduction

Throughout history, people often mistaken mental disorders as an obstacle to a person’s creativity. In the 19th century, cures haven’t been discovered due to the limited understanding of mental disorders. Along this time period, the art movements gaining popularity were post-impressionism, expressionism, impressionism, and romanticism. Modern studies claim that mental disorders “tend to block or derail creativity” (Rothenberg, 16), although, some argue otherwise.

This essay will examine the link between mental disorders and the production of visual arts based on famous artists, leading to the question: What role did mental illnesses play in the production of visual arts in Europe in the 19th century? These artists are Vincent

At an early age, van Gogh’s art was not remarkable nor exceptional, although, it showed his talent of realistic rendering of other works. His severe depression was caused by two major disappointments in his life: the failure of his first romantic relationship and the rejection by the church. By the age of 27, he abandoned his religious beliefs and resolved to be an artist with the goal to produce works of art for the people (Blumer, 3). In Paris, Vincent began to suffer from episodes of terror, epigastric sensations, and sudden unconsciousness, although, he continued to work towards perfecting his art. Bipolarity became evident too as Theo described Vincent in a letter, “As if he were two persons: one, marvelously gifted, tender and refined, the other, egotistic and hard hearted. They present themselves in turns, so that one hears him talk first in one way, then in the other, and always with arguments on both sides” (Blumer, 5). In 1888, Vincent van Gogh was found unconscious, hospitalized, and lapsed into a psychotic state with agitation, hallucinations, and delusions. In May 1889, he voluntarily entered the Saint-Rémy Asylum for a year, where he produced 300 works of art during recovery. Vincent was discharged and was judged “cured” by his physician. He then moved to Auvers, France, making 70 paintings and 30 drawings in a span of 10 weeks, before committing

Munch dealt with losing his mother and sister at youth -- describing his life being guided by “twin black angels of insanity and disease” (Biography, 1). Growing up, his father was emotionally unavailable and depressed, with their trauma intensified by poverty. As a teen, Edvard had remarkable talent in drawing, watercolor, and oil painting. His art revolved around the themes of death, loss of love, and anxiety, and was seen as “melancholy” by critics (Warick, 4). In a journal, he described his hallucination of The Scream, “The sun set. The sky suddenly turned into blood, and I felt something akin to a touch of melancholy … dripping, rippling blood … frightened with an open wound in my breast. A great scream pierced through nature” (Rothenberg, 1). In his 40s, Munch was hospitalized for eight months under chronic depression, agoraphobia, insomnia, paranoia, and hallucinations, yet he continued to produce art. After this, he was judged “cured” with his art content evidently dealing with more external, positive content, yet dealing with his old themes (Warick, 14). He later experienced depression and anxiety once again and was encouraged to go under hospitalization, but Edvard refused as he felt his creativity may be destroyed if he were cured, “Without illness and anxiety, I would have been a rudderless ship” (Warick, 1). Munch’s passion