A Factor in Suicide?
In order to understand more fully the complex mind of Vincent van Gogh, it is necessary to extend our study to areas beyond his landscapes, and to analyze other areas of his life. Born in the Netherlands in March of 1853, one of six children, he was always a loner and often unhappy, preferring to spend his time wandering outside by himself rather than playing with siblings or friends. He developed an early fascination for nature, an interest that stayed with him and that emerged often in his artwork, but he often found it hard to make friends. Throughout his life, this difficulty frequently resulted in inordinate amounts of time spent alone, leaving him to focus his energies entirely on his painting. Until years later, however, his artwork was no more successful commercially than its artist was socially. Van Gogh was often left alone and unhappy.
After a childhood where his only real friend was his younger brother Theo, Vincent attended a small boarding school where he nursed a love for reading. Unfortunately, he seemed to be focused only on what he could teach himself, showing no interest in the material presented to him in school. His grades suffered, and when he finally finished school, it took him time to find his eventual profession. He joined the staff of the Goupil Gallery at the age of 16, but a few years later, as Lilli Cristin tells us, “temperamentally unsuited to be a dealer and emotionally unstable, he was discharged” (Cristen 2). This unpredictable temperament described by Cristin plagued van Gogh in his pursuits of the opposite sex (even of his cousin), as he was twice rebuffed in his pleas for marriage.
Before finally managing to harness his emotions in his painting, Vincent looked to religion. Following his desires to practice what became a lifelong religious fervor, Vincent entered missionary 
school, trying, and eventually failing, to gain admission into the Dutch Reformed Church. He eventually developed an aversion to organized religion after these experiences, but spiritual and religious themes later remained widespread in his paintings. It would take him three more years before he truly embraced this calling in art, finding his place at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels in 1880.
As well-known and liked as his paintings are today, they did not sell during his lifetime. By no means does this mean that his artwork, or his life, should be considered a failure, but his numerous setbacks and disappointments are worth highlighting. He weathered a difficult life, and we are left to wonder just how much his failures contributed to his eventual suicide.