All creative people are thought to be unstable: allegedly, a mobile psyche, increased emotionality, and deep empathy are among the most important aids in writing lively, sensual canvases.
But I’m always curious: which of these is due to talent, and which to the field of psychiatry? And where does this line exist, if it exists at all? I recommend discussing this in the comments, but for now, I’ll focus on the artists who truly suffered from mental illnesses.
1. Rembrandt: Despair
It would appear, well, what kind of depression in the seventeenth century? Despite this, the author of “Night Watch” was found to have symptoms of this disorder. The well-known Dutch artist battled clinical depression and melancholy. Rembrandt is thought to have developed these conditions following the death of his wife Saskia. The death of a beloved woman had a significant impact on the artist’s well-being and even his painting style. Only a new crush on the children’s nanny, Hendrike, resurrected him.
2. Caravaggio: increased ferocity
Michelangelo Merisi de Caravaggio was known for his violent temper, which can be felt even in his picturesque style. Emotions on the edge, eternal clashes with churchmen, constant misunderstanding and quarrels with friends are this artist’s life companions. And, of course, there’s alcohol. In general, all of these factors influenced how such a gifted individual ended his life.
Michelangelo was accused of murder after another quarrel and fight, and the Pope himself declared the artist an outlaw: anyone could now kill him if they met him on the street. Michelangelo fled, went into exile, and then begged forgiveness. He died on the way to Rome. There is still no agreement on whether he was murdered or died of natural causes.
3. Francisco Goya: bipolar disorder, hallucinations
The artist, who worked at the court of the Spanish king and knew the most powerful and wealthy people in Spain by sight, had every chance of living to a ripe old age. However, after losing his hearing as a result of a long illness, he lost faith in himself, withdrew, and became a hermit. Secluded in a house that would be known as the “House of the Deaf” five decades after his death, Goya began to paint dark, scary pictures that he admitted were caused by terrible nightmares and hallucinations. The cycle of the Spaniard’s “Black Painting” contains longing, fear, dark, terrible thoughts.
4. Van Gogh suffered from manic depression and bipolar disorder.
Van Gogh prints here
According to art historians, the artist suffered from a variety of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder and hallucinations. It is also claimed that the artist suffered from epilepsy and disorientation. I’m afraid the list will not end there; they will undoubtedly discover something else. Furthermore, the controversy surrounding the famous episode with the ear and the artist’s death is still very much alive.
There are at least three versions just about the ear. One of them is that Van Gogh severed it after a disagreement with Gauguin and sent it to a friend via a familiar prostitute. Van Gogh had too many factors affecting his emotional stability, including women of easy virtue, alcohol, fights, and depression due to the fact that no one appreciated his paintings. It all came to an end with suicide. However, this is only one of several versions.
5. Paul Gauguin: delusions and depression
Van Gogh’s condition might have been much better if he hadn’t been friends with Gauguin. According to historians, a lover of all things exotic suffered from “ordinary” depression. The artist also attempted suicide but failed. Well, the constant squabbles with Van Gogh only serve to demonstrate that mental health was seriously and irreversibly harmed.
6. Mikhail Vrubel: bipolar disorder
Since childhood, the famous Russian artist has been a sickly, withdrawn child. He had been plagued by illness his entire life. He was considered autistic and paralytic until the age of three: he spoke poorly and rarely, and he went to bed late. He had syphilis as an adult, and it is believed that he caused all of his other health problems, including bipolar disorder with hallucinations.
It’s difficult to believe that the creator of the most fantastic, beautiful pictorial plots could be mentally ill. However, both his friends and, later, art historians noted that the disease’s seal can be found on almost every canvas, beginning with the “Sitting Demon.” This canvas, in particular, is known as the disease’s manifestation.
7. Edvard Munch: hallucinations, schizophrenia
Munch initially showed an increased interest in death, life after death, and mysticism after losing his sister and mother as a child, growing up with a fanatical father and a sister with schizophrenia. Life’s “joys” did not end with the death of loved ones: the adult world was preparing a hysterical mistress who threatened suicide, as well as a nervous breakdown as a result of these hellish relationships. Munch went to the hospital, wrote nonstop, and emerged a completely different person. For the rest of his life, he was plagued by hallucinations. Sometimes he felt as if death itself was knocking on his door, and then terrible monsters appeared.
8. Andy Warhol: Obsessive Overeating
The style icon, the creator of the “Factory,” and the face of the American creative party was always on a diet. The “New York diet” was extremely simple: order a lot of dishes and then not eat them. Warhol’s diet consisted of canned soup, cereal, and soda. And the sea of sweets, which the artist couldn’t stop himself from eating. His contemporaries claimed that Warhol could only eat sweets and drink soda, and that he was unable to control himself. As a result, he developed a stomach ulcer, suffered an exacerbation, and died.
PS If you want to decorate your home with awesome paintings, then i suggest you to buy canvas prints. You will spend less money, meanwhile you will get high-quality images.
