Van Gogh: The Life

Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith argue in their 2011 biography that Vincent van Gogh did not commit suicide, as is traditionally believed. Instead, they propose that he was most likely accidentally shot by two teenage boys playing with a malfunctioning gun in Auvers-sur-Oise.

The biography is incredibly comprehensive, weighing in at an exhaustive 953 pages. It includes a vast amount of detailed research drawn from the Van Gogh Museum's archives, including hundreds of previously untranslated family letters.

The massive biography was published by Random House in 2011. The authors, Naifeh and Smith, previously won a Pulitzer Prize for their 1991 biography of the American abstract painter Jackson Pollock.

Yes, the authors extensively document his periods of severe mental illness, including the infamous 1888 incident where he cut off his left ear in Arles. However, they also emphasize his intense, obsessive work ethic, noting that he completed some of his most famous masterpieces during periods of deep psychological distress.