A painter's problems: could van Gogh's torment be attributed to chemistry?

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

On December 23, 1888, a prostitute in the town of Arles, France received a strange Christmas present. The package, wrapped in newsprint, contained part of a human ear--the ear of Vincent van Gogh. Why the artist mutilated himself in this fashion after returning home from a visit to the brothel has been the subject of intense conjecture.

The artist's career began in Holland. His early paintings, such as the Potato Eaters, were dark and sombre, clearly conveying the artist's sympathy with the hard life of the poor Dutch peasant. A move to Paris, and later southern France, had a dramatic effect on the painter's style. Darkness gave way to new, bright light that flooded his work. Sunflowers, perhaps the best known painting of this period, is a veritable explosion of brilliant yellows.

Some have suggested that there was more to this change in van Gogh's palette than the mood-boosting effect of the sun in southern France. The artist was known to suffer from psychotic fits, which at the time were characterized as "epilepsy." Treatment often involved the use of digitalis, the heart remedy discovered by the Englishman, William Withering. van Gogh was likely treated with this inappropriate medication, as witnessed by the fact that he painted his personal physician, Dr. Gachet, with a stalk of foxglove in his hand. This is the plant from which digitalis is extracted.

Large doses of digitalis can cause vomiting, giddiness, and visual disturbances, van gogh's later paintings show an obsession with the colour yellow. Even his house at Auvers was painted yellow. Abnormalities in colour perception, in particular yellow halos, have been associated with the use of digitalis. Ascribing van Gogh's medical problems to digitalis poisoning is interesting, although somewhat unlikely.

A middle ear condition known as Meniere's disease is also a candidate for the painter's problems. A review of 796 personal letters to his brother Theo paints a picture of a man suffering from attacks of disabling, recurrent, vertigo and nausea, as well as sensory hallucinations. These attacks were also characterized by an intolerance for motion and loud sounds. He also experienced long, symptom-free periods, as is common with Meniere's disease. Auditory hallucinations or ringing in the ears (tinnitus) are also common. In fact, some patients speak of "cutting off their ear" or "poking a hole in it with an ice pick" to relieve the torment. Meniere's disease does appear to be consistent with van Gogh's ailment and presents a potential rationale for his self-mutilation.

Another possible explanation for van Gogh's fits of bizarre behaviour arises from his well-known addiction to absinthe, a popular beverage of the time. The standard ingredients are alcohol, oil of wormwood, anise, fennel, juniper, and nutmeg. The active ingredient in wormwood is thujone, a compound that causes excitement of the nervous system followed by unconsciousness and convulsions. The condition induced by thujone has been studied as a model for epilepsy. Because absinthe caused so much misery, the French government banned it in the early part of the 20th century. Its descendant, Pernod, which does not contain thujone, is still available. It still intrigues people with its colour change from green to white as water is added.

There is no question that van Gogh indulged heavily in absinthe during his days in southern France. He and Paul Gaugin went on binges together, and van Gogh would invariably end up in a brothel, probably claiming that "absinthe makes the tart grow fonder." On one of these eventful nights, he quarrelled with Gaugin, threw a glass of absinthe at him, and then threatened his friend with a razor. In a flood of guilt, he retreated to his room and performed the celebrated surgery.

We will never know whether van Gogh's suicide in 1890 was due to epilepsy, Meniere's disease, thujone poisoning, or some other condition. Why he shot himself in the very wheat field he had depicted on his last canvas will remain a mystery. The painting shows a road that ends abruptly in the middle of a field of wild, yellow wheat. According to some, it is the road of van Gogh's short life.

We do know that Dr. Gachet planted a tree on van Gogh's grave after his death. Brother Theo died soon after and was buried elsewhere. Relatives later decided that the brothers, who had been so close in life, should spend eternity together in the same plot. When the painter's grave was dug up, his casket was found to be completely entwined in the roots of the tree planted by Dr. Gachet. The doctor had unwittingly decorated the grave with a wormwood tree, well known for its production of thujone. In death, as in life, Vincent van Gogh was held in the clutches of thujone.

Popular science writer Joe Schwarcz, MCIC, is the director of McGiU University's Office for Science and Society. He hosts the Dr. Joe Show on Montrdal's radio station CJAD and Toronto's CFRB. The broadcast is available on the Web at www.CJAD.com. You can contact him at joe.schwarcz@megill.ca.