Van Gogh had moved to Auvers in May 1890 after a year in an asylum at Saint-Rémy and painted about 70 works in some 70 days. On the evening of July 27 he returned to the Auberge Ravoux holding his side and told the innkeeper he had shot himself. Doctors, including his friend Paul Gachet, decided the bullet could not be removed. Theo arrived the next day. Vincent died early on July 29 at the age of 37. Theo died six months later.
In Auvers, a village north of Paris, van Gogh worked at extraordinary speed, producing paintings such as Wheatfield with Crows and The Church at Auvers. His letters show both hope and deep worry, especially about Theo, who supported him financially and whose own family and job were under strain.
On July 27 he left the inn after lunch, as usual, with his painting materials. He came back after dark, went up to his room, and was found by the innkeeper, Arthur Ravoux, bleeding from a wound below his ribs. When police asked if he had meant to kill himself, he said yes, and that no one else was responsible. The revolver was never found for certain; one rusted weapon discovered in a field decades later was sold at auction in 2019.
In 2011 two biographers argued that he had been shot accidentally by teenagers, but most specialists, including the Van Gogh Museum, continue to regard his death as suicide. Theo sat by the bed and later wrote that Vincent had said, "The sadness will last forever." The brothers are buried side by side in the Auvers cemetery.
Key people: Vincent van Gogh, Theo van Gogh, Paul Gachet