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Article: Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). The Prison Courtyard (1890).(About The Cover)
- Article from:
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Article date:
- September 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Oil on canvas, 80 cm x 64 cm. The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
Van Gogh painted The Prison Courtyard while "imprisoned" himself, in the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint Remy. He died 5 months later of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the culmination of his long struggle with physical and mental illness (1).
The first Dutch master since the 17th century, van Gogh did not become an artist until 10 years before the end of his life. His early interests were literature and theology. The son of a Protestant minister, he had a strong sense of mission, which was reinforced by his dislike of industrial society and his work as lay preacher ...