Vincent van Gogh, chemistry and absinthe
The consumption of absinthe was once banned due to its reputation as a mysterious psychoactive drink. What does it contain? Was it responsible for the death of Van Gogh?
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a pioneer expressionist artist. Working as a painter for only the last 10 years of his life, much of his best-known output occurred in the last two years, after he encountered impressionism.
Before committing suicide, he spent a long period in 1889-90 in a clinic because of his mental instability. Just look at his paintings such as La Nuit Etoilée in a gallery like the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and you do not have to be a chemist to wonder about the source of the swirls, spirals and other strange effects.
Traditionally Van Gogh's instability and suicide have been blamed on the liqueur-like drink absinthe, the fashionable French beverage in the half century up to the first world war. But was absinthe really to blame?
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