Van Gogh

There is speculation rife if Van Gogh, suffered from some form of "madness". Many have drawn attention to the large amount of green and yellows in his last paintings.The most common doubt is that he was bipolar (manic-depressive). There's very interesting literature on the fact that he drank a liquor called absinthe, which when taken in a large dose, does cause xanthopsia, or yellow vision(due to a component in it called Thujone). That's one speculation. The other interesting speculation is that he was being overdosed with digitalis which is the medication for heart failure. So why was Van Gogh, who wasn't in heart failure, getting digitalis? He was known to be an epileptic, which could have been caused by the absinthe. It can cause epilepsy if too much is taken. That was recently discovered by a group at the University of California in Berkley. It affects the GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptor on the brain cells, and they fire at will when you are getting overdosed, which could cause convulsions. The speculation about digitalis comes forth because of the famous painting, The Starry Night. When you are overdosing on digitalis, you develop yellow vision. In The Starry Night, there are yellow circles around the stars which is also a complaint of the overdose. Van Gogh's last physician was Dr. Gachet. He used digitalis to treat his epilepsy. Why did he do this? Maybe it didn't. It's interesting in the portrait, Dr. Gachet is holding the digitalis flower. It's called Digitalis Purpura. That's another speculation. The last speculation is that Van Gogh just liked the color yellow, trying to dismiss all of the absinthe story and the story of digitalis. A chemistry lab could have been very effective in determining whether he was getting poisoned.
There was a history of suicide in the family, and he committed suicide.Manic-Depressive Illness does lead to increased creativity because the brain cells are firing at will. When you are in a manic state, you are very creative, but once you get depressed, you create nothing.

The Starry Night was completed near the mental asylum of Saint-Remy, 13 months before Van Gogh's death at the age of 37 in June 1889.
Van Gogh painted furiously and The Starry Night vibrates with rockets of burning yellow while planets gyrate like cartwheels. The hills quake and heave, yet the cosmic gold fireworks that swirl against the blue sky are somehow restful.
This painting is probably the most popular of Vincent's works.