July 27: Today is anniversary of the suicide of Vincent van Gogh in 1890.

Vincent at the age of thirteen

Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh shot himself and died two days later, at 37 years old.

Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait

Theo, his younger brother, was a gallery owner and supported permanently his brother the painter. Theo had printed 20 lithographs of the painting "The Potato Eaters" which could sell in the neighborhood offering competitive rates.

The Potato Eaters by Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh was poor and really miserable. He shared his house in Arles, southern France, with his friend and fellow painter Paul Gaugin.

Theo in 1888 at 31. Theo was a life-long supporter and friend to his brother. The two are buried together at Auvers-sur-Oise.

However, after a while, the coexistence deteriorated by friction between them, until a crazy relapse of Van Gogh cut his left ear, in front of his friend, after having chased Gaugin around the house with a knife.

Paul Gauguin, The Painter of Sunflowers: Portrait of Vincent van Gogh, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Van Gogh painted 900 paintings and 1,600 drawings. He painted 27 self-portraits on oil canvas. He died impoverished. His works came to be appreciated many years after his death.

Self-portrait ,1889, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London. Mirror-image self portrait with bandaged ear.