How Did One Woman Make Vincent van Gogh Famous?

films inspired by him. There's an episode of Doctor Who about his struggle with mental health and aliens, and someone once gave me a t shirt that features Yonkat riding a pop tart through the starry night. When his works do come up for auction today they fetch tens of millions of dollars apiece, from famed paintings like Sunflowers and Cafe Terrace at Night to a litany of self portraits.

Vincent Willem Vango's portfolio is overwhelming and brilliant, but fame and success have always been fickle, and vengo had a number of odds stacked against him. He experienced debilitatingly poor mental and physical health. It's mostly impossible to make real diagnoses today, but experts have extended hypotheses from epilepsy to borderline personality disorder to lead poisoning. Whatever he faced, it didn't make it easy for him to market himself. He

actually worked in the art scene for a time. He had a day job as an art dealer, but that might have been a mark against him too. For the article this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke by email with Nadine Granoff, a fine art appraiser. She said, we get the impression that Vincent did not excel at sales. He was a failure as an art dealer at Goupeel, a fine art dealer. It is said Vincent was fired

from Goupeel for not being sufficiently cordial to clients. He probably seemed a bit eccentric in the world of commerce, so that could have burned bridges and turned potential buyers off to his own works in the short term and in the longer term. He may not have lived long enough to see his career bloom. He died of what's generally agreed to be suicide at age thirty seven at

the time in eighteen ninety. He was just a couple of years into receiving some increased recognition amongst the avant garde, an inclusion in some exhibits in Paris and Brussels. So how did this now iconic painter become iconic enter His sister in law, One Johanna Vango Bonger, better known as Yo Yo, only became part of the Vango family in eighteen eighty nine, shortly before Vincent's death. Born in eighteen sixty two, Yo worked as an English teacher at two

different girls schools before her marriage to Vincent's beloved brother Tayoh. Tragically, Tao died just six months after Vincent. Tao had complications from syphilis. Yo was left with their newborn son and a sizable art collection from Vincent, and that is when she decided to pursue Tao's wishes. Hastuffworks also spoke via email with Hans Luton, a senior researcher at the Vango Museum. He said Tao wanted nothing more than to raise the

profile of his brother's work. Yo assumed responsibility for Vango's artistic legacy from eighteen ninety one up to her death. She dedicated herself to raising awareness of Vincent's art and letters, and of course she loved his work too. Yo worked extensively to cultivate Vincent's name and interest in his style, which was no small feat. His work was considered too modern to be of interest to collectors and buyers, so she selectively sold his works and inspired writers and art

critics to cover his paintings. She also lent pieces to prestigious museums and organized countless exhibitions and sales. Latin said one of Yo's major feats was the organization of a magisterial exhibition at the Stedlick Museum, at Amsterdam's premier museum for contemporary art, in nineteen oh five, where she united no less than four hundred and eighty four of Ango's works. A Vango exhibition of this magnitude would never again be matched.

All told, between eighteen ninety one and nineteen twenty five, Yo sold at least one hundred and ninety two of her brother in law's paintings and fifty five of his works on paper. She also published Vincent's letters to Tao in nineteen fourteen. He had written hundreds, most of which Taeo had kept. These eloquent letters made Vincent more relatable, increasing his appeal and the public's appreciation for his art.

Experts do believe that Yo n credited out sexual and family secrets, and unfortunately the conversation is pretty one sided. Only about forty of Tao's letters to his brother survive. Granoff said Vincent typically burned any letters he received after reading them. Outside of promoting Vincent's work, Yeo also fought for better working conditions for women and laborers as a member of the Social Democratic Workers Party. Yo Vang Go Bonger died in nineteen twenty five at the age of

sixty two from Parkinson's disease. All of the works still in her possession passed to her son, whom they had named Vincent Villain Vang Go after his uncle. He continued his mother's life's work and eventually established the Vincent Vango Foundation and the Vango Museum so that his uncle's pieces could be accessible to everyone. Tao and Yo's great grandson, Villain Vang Goh, is currently a board advisor to the museum.

A Latin said, Io Vang Bonger is perhaps not a household name, but she was a force to be reckoned with She acted decisively in a world dominated by men. I am delighted that we are able to tell her life story in such detail now. Luton wrote a biography of Yo that was published in collaboration with the Vango Museum back in twenty nineteen. It's English translation by Lynn Richards dropped in twenty twenty two. It's called Yo Van

Go Bonger, The Woman who made Vincent Famous. You can also read Yo's diaries for free online, annotated by Latin and also translated into English by Richards at Bongerdiaries dot org. Today's episode is based on the article Meet the Woman who made Vango Famous on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Leah Hoyt. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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