Research Paper On Vincent Van Gogh Depression

In Van Gogh’s piece of art “Prisoners Exercising” (1890) is shown sadness, depression, and despair of the prisoners. You can say that prisoners are also hopeless, by how the artist drew faces of some of the prisoners. The artist used black, gray, dark blue, brown and dull orange colors, these colors make you feel sad and distressed. By looking at this painting and the colours that were used we can say that Van Gogh was feeling depressed and he had a life crisis. I believe that the artist’s message that he wanted to deliver is, this is how life can look like, making circles in a small room, loneliness, being controlled by other people who are watching your each and every step that you take. Maybe he wanted to show how people look like when they are freedomless.

In the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (APA, 2000) the symptoms of depression are: loss of interest or enjoyment in activities; changing in weight and appetite; changes to sleep pattern; loss of energy; feeling worthless or guilty; suicidal thoughts; poor concentration and being either agitated or slowed up.

Some symptoms of depression are stress, anxiety, guilt or losing a close family member or friend. There are also some social symptoms that cause depression such as fighting issues in between family members or a best friend, sexual abuse or too extreme expectations.

Depression is a disorder that can be caused by many factors. Stress, medication, other medical illnesses, and personality traits can all contribute to depression, but the most common cause, however, is heredity (yahoo.com 1). These are all theorized guesses as to what causes clinical depression. The actual cause has not yet been resolved (yahoo.com 1). It is considered that usually more than one factor causes the disorder (yahoo.com 2).

Vincent Van Gogh was possibly the most notable artist of the impressionist movement. However, beyond the brilliant artwork was a man that suffered from debilitating illness. Van Gogh spent years struggling with bouts of depression interrupted by mania and anxiety. His state of mind was well-documented in letters that he wrote to his brother Theo, an art dealer living in Paris. Using these letters many modern psychologists have tried to accurately posthumously diagnose the illness of Van Gogh. Accurate diagnosis of a living patient is already an endeavor and many patients don’t receive an official diagnosis. Posthumous diagnosis is even more difficult because they have limited information about the patient. When it comes to mental illness though, the official diagnosis is not that important, it exists mostly so the patient has a name for what they are feeling. What is more important is identifying and recognizing the symptoms that affect the patient’s life. Van Gogh experienced more than his fair share of symptoms and often would write to his brother about how these symptoms affected his work as an artist.

Studies have been done on art being used for schizophrenia patients to utilize as a tool to help them understand their disorder but is this the proper tool for patients? I came across two patients with schizophrenia, Kate a eighteen year old and Bryan John Charnely. Kate was diagnosed at the age of seventeen and a great way for her to deal with her hallucinations was to draw them out. She stated “ In my hallucinations I hear voices, sounds effects, random noises, and often I see bugs, faces, and disembodied eyes (Boredpanda.com). According to the book, Essentials of Psychology by R.H. Ettinger, the author states “ the primary symptoms include disturbances in thought, perception, emotional expression, and speech” ( Pp 2, Pg 542). By this statement the author is explaining what the most common symptoms are and comparing Kate’s hallucinations its clear why she can see and hear her hallucinations. Charnely on the other hand is an older man who was diagnosed with

At 37 years old, van Gogh’s depression overcame him, and he took his own life. Despite his illnesses—whatever they may have been—his paintings brought him great happiness, and his work continues to touch and inspire as he had always hoped it would.

Vincent van Gogh is likely the most generally known and exceptionally refreshing individual of postimpressionism. Amid his concise lifetime, Vincent's work went practically obscure to this world. His work now hangs in innumerable historical centers all through the world and is viewed as precious. His work turned into an imperative extension between the 19 th and 20 th hundreds of years. The craftsmanship chronicled term, Postimpressionism was begat by Roger Fry a British workmanship faultfinder, who portrayed the different styles of painting that thrived amid the period from around 1880 to 1910 (Britannica). It was for the most part utilized for a helpful approach to aggregate together the age of specialists who looked for new types of

Thesis Statement: Although Vincent Van Gogh’s work is recognized around the world, his life was full of depression and rejection from people and the art world, but still he impacted the style of art forever.

Vincent Van Gogh was formed by his social, cultural and historical context. This is expressed clearly in the underlying stories of both paintings, Starry Night, 1889 and Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889. Both of these paintings portray a narrative relating to Van Gogh significantly as he emotionally connects to the subject in each painting. Van Gogh’s aim of these subjective works was to express meaning through colour and express the painting to a more personal emotion for the viewer. Van Gogh belonged to a small style of Post Impressionism which was a reaction against Impressionism and their formality.

It is quite obvious that most art contains much of the artist’s emotional state, in the subject matter, colors, or brushstrokes. Van Gogh certainly used his art to express his inner turmoil and emotions, both conscious ones and unconscious ones. Psychologists have used art created by their patients, to analyze their mental stability, and have thus assigned psychological meanings to various colors. For example, people who tend to be relatively well adjusted will use warmer colors, while others who feel detached from society and/or the world will prefer cooler colors. Yellow, a color that van Gogh seemed to love, suggests depression or that the artist has regressed to or failed to progress from an infantile state. Van Gogh was most definitely depressed, and he may not have progressed past an infantile state, due to his lack of real name and lack of identity. Yellow also represents an idea of something brilliant, concerning what is natural and eternal. Van Gogh used yellow most in his painting in nature, suggesting that he felt happiest out in nature, underneath the hot sun, painting sunflowers. However, van Gogh’s art style changed drastically after his mental breakdown.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30th 1853, in Zundert, The Netherlands. Van Gogh spent his teenage year’s working for a firm of art dealers; however, he did not embark upon his art career until 1880. Originally, he worked only with dark and gloomy colors, until he came across the art movements developed in Paris known as, Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism (Meier-Graefe 4). Van Gogh than included their brighter colors and unique style of painting into his very own creations. He produced more than 2,000 works, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches, during the last ten years of his life (Meier-Graefe 10). However, most of his best-known works were produced in his last

          4.Vincent would stay there for two years and transfer to paris for a year and then come back to london.

     People who usually experience depression, can seem fine. But there are many key signs to show that they are depressed. Such as, change in school performance, eating habits change, constant unhappiness, low self esteem, guilt, social isolation, inability to concentrate, irritable or angered easily, or has a severe lost of energy.

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most famous artists of all time. He is known for his paintings and is hailed as the quintessential expressionist painter in history. Yet, Van Gogh lived one of the most troubling lives one could ever imagine. Almost every painting can be viewed as a look into his troubled soul. Van Gogh’s Paintings today can be sold for millions of dollars, but during his life time he sold a single painting for a measly 40 francs. Van Gogh’s legacy has left behind stories of greatness and sadness having to do with both his personal life and his career as an artist.