Why do we still talk about Van Gogh?

Vincent van Gogh, “Two Cut Sunflowers” (1887). The Phillips Collection, Washington, Image in public domain by Wikimedia Commons.

“I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.” — Vincent van Gogh

We talk about Van Gogh as if he were an old friend. And in a way, he is. You know the straw hat, the sunflowers, the ear, the letters to Theo. Even if you’ve never set foot in a museum, you’ve met him.

But why this collective obsession?

Tragedy sells (big time)
Van Gogh is the original rockstar painter: poor, misunderstood, suicidal. He lived in misery, died young, and sold almost nothing in his lifetime. The rest you know — the market and the critics turned him into legend. Culture loves martyrs.

Color that screams
Look at one of his canvases and tell me you don’t hear sound. The yellow of the sunflowers spits light. The starry sky isn’t sky, it’s music in oil. There’s an intensity that cuts across time, almost untranslatable.

The myth of authenticity
In an age of Instagram filters and polished LinkedIn bios, Van Gogh works as a counterpoint. The “mad genius” who didn’t fake it. Who burned from the inside and threw the ashes onto canvas. Truth or romantic construction? Doesn’t matter. It works.

And you?
We still talk about Van Gogh because we need someone to remind us that art isn’t just market, technique, or “good taste.” It’s excess, it’s pain, it’s beauty that disturbs.

👉 Bottom line, with paint still wet: Van Gogh reminds us that for art to be art, it must be urgent.