ABSTRACT
The star-crossed life of Vincent van Gogh is one of the familiar icons of the meaning of the artistic vocation in its modern, romanticized guise. The story of his tragic life is familiar enough and needs no retelling—it has been the stuff of popular books and even movies for years. The impact of his towering genius, set in the matrix of such a troubled and difficult life that led finally to suicide, has puzzled and intrigued psychoanalysts and presented a continuing challenge that at once whets the analytic appetite and resists satisfaction or closure.
