The Secret of Starry Night: How Van Gogh Created His Greatest Work
Vincent Van Gogh is famous for two things:
He painted Starry Night
He cut off his own ear
But few people know how these two events are connected…
in 1888, Van Gogh suffered a mental breakdown which caused him to cut off his own ear. He checked himself into the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole mental hospital for help.
During the year he stayed there, he painted many of his most famous works — the biggest being, his most famous work (Starry Night) which actually painted by using the view from his bedroom window of the hospital he was staying in.
This story is really powerful to me - because this was one of the hardest moments of Van Gogh’s life, but he took the time of healing and rebuilding himself to do the most important work of his life. I just think it’s really powerful.
A good reminder that sometimes our greatest triumphs are a response to our greatest set-backs.