The aim of this study is to create a psychobiography of Vincent Van Gogh who was born in 1853 and died 1890. To Van Gogh art was not merely a means for an income, he converted all his aspirations and anguish into his art works. In doing so his art became the first example of a truly personal art, to him art was a deeply lived means of spiritual salvation, which he used as a means to transform himself. It was well known that Van Gogh was unstable and felt misunderstood in life, often asking “What is the use?” . He had a method of fusing what he saw in the world, and what he personally felt, into works of art that were revelations of himself. Van Gogh lived a lonely life, although for the last seventeen years of his life he wrote to his brother, Theo, almost daily. These letters give much insight to the thoughts and inner world of a much misunderstood individual. Most of these letters have been preserved and much else has been written about Van Gogh’s life and art. In our modern day he is deemed one of the most famous artists, yet in his lifetime he only sold one painting. This psychobiography employs a qualitative psychobiographical research method, which aims to describe Van Gogh’s psychological development in terms of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial developmental stages. Van Gogh was chosen as the research subject because of personal interest, his value as a famous artist, and because of the unique way in which he saw and related to the world.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:9880 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Muller, Heather Ruby |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | x, 86 leaves ; 30 cm, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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