Vincent Van Gogh Chemicals, Crises, and Creativity

"In a wonderful piece of medical detective work, Dr. Wilfred Arnold gives a convincing account of the illness, porphyria, that afflicted & led to the death of a great artist. Along the way we learn of absinthe abuse in France, why Vincent Van Gogh favored yellow in his palette, & much more -- all told, most readably, by an expert medical scientist sympathetic to the artist & his work." -- Roald Hoffmann, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Cornell University. In this scholarly, yet readable work, Dr. Arnold puts forth a new theory on the tragic life & death of Vincent Van Gogh. He identifies acute intermittent porphyria, an inherited disease arising from a partial deficiency of a liver enzyme, as the underlying problem. This unifying hypothesis accommodates the age of onset, the lucidity & productivity between medical crises, & all of the well documented signs & symptoms revealed in Vincent Van Gogh's voluminous correspondence with family & friends. This is a thorough analysis in light of modern chemical & biochemical findings. The result is a better understanding of the man, as well as new insights into the sources of creativity in general. CONTENTS: Preface * Introduction * Vita * Illnesses * Absinthe * The Diagnosis * Other Hypotheses * Vincent's Doctors * The Yellow Palette * The Ear-Cutting Affair * Suicide * Creativity & the van Gogh Legacy * Summary * Afterword: Burial, Reburial, & the Thuja Tree * Index.Arnold, Wilfred N. is the author of 'Vincent Van Gogh Chemicals, Crises, and Creativity', published 1992 under ISBN 9780817636166 and ISBN 0817636161.