At eternity gate

The last two years (1888-1890) in the life of Vincent van Gogh are presented, those years spent largely in southern France, most specifically Arles. He is driven by his art and what his art means to him, as opposed to the primary goal of making money, which he does not in not selling any of his paintings and thus being supported financially and emotionally by his brother, Theo van Gogh. As opposed to his friend and fellow artist Paul Gauguin who has a modicum of success, Van Gogh is seen as less contemplative about his work due in large part to the speed at which he paints and what is seen as the haphazard style of thick strokes of paint on the canvas, but he is arguably more contemplative regardless of how prolific he is. That overall contemplative nature manifests itself more as madness, seeming or real, as demonstrated by an infamous act concerning his left ear.