Mental Illness

• It is believed that Van Gogh suffered from seizures and mood swings that resulted from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. This a condition affecting the two temporal lobes located at about ear level on either side of the brain. It can create vivid seizures that seem like waking hallucinations, magnifying light, colors and sound. If he did indeed suffer from this condition, it may have played a large part in the representation of his art style and the birth of Impressionism.
  
  

Priestly Ambitions

• Van Gogh did not become an artist until he was a grown man. He thought to instead join the priesthood. In 1866 Van Gogh attended the Secondary School of Hannik, a Presbyterian religious school in the city of Tilburg in the Netherlands. Later he became a preacher in Belgium in 1878 but was dismissed after a short six months. However, it was during this time that he began producing charcoal sketches.
  
  

Suicide

• While many enjoy the creativity and artwork of Vincent Van Gogh, not many know that he ended his own life, perhaps due to continued or worsening difficulties resulting from his epilepsy or another mental illness. Van Gogh repeatedly spoke of his macabre intentions and suicidal ideas to a good friend before acting upon them. It was not until after a stint in an asylum that Van Gogh died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest.
  
  

Posthumous Fame

• Van Gogh's work is worth millions of dollars today.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  In this modern age of instant fame and celebrity, it is hard to imagine that Vincent Van Gogh never knew that his artwork was appreciated. It was not until 11 years after his death at the showing of several of his portraits at a Paris art show that Van Gogh's work started to be appreciated. In the present day, Van Gogh's pieces are now among the most expensive in the world.