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반고호 Vincent w. Van Gogh(1853~1891)
고갱과의 빈번한 성격적 충돌에 의하여 결정적인 우정의 파탄을 가져오고, 그 격분에 못이겨 자기 자신의 귀를 면도칼로 잘라 버린 귀의 비극이 1888년 크리스마스 때 일어났고, 바로 병원에 입원하였다. 1889년 1월 7일 퇴원을 한 고호는 그 무렵 2점의 자화상을 그렸는 데, 모두 귀에 붕대를 감은 모습이다. 또 한 점의 자화상은 입에 파이프를 물고 있고, 빨간 바탕을 배경으로 하고 있다. '들라크로아나 바그너나 베를리오즈의 마음속에도 광기는 존재하지 않았을까'라고 고호 자신은 말하고 있다. 그 비극에 대하여 많은 의학자나 평론가, 학자들이 연구하였으나, 과로에 의한 신경 과민, 환청,피해 망상 등 여러 가지 정신 병리학적 진단을 내리고 있다. 그러나, 차츰 진정을 회복하여 명석한 자기 마음의 지향을 나타내어 갔다.
"You may know that the peony is Jeannin's, the hollyhock belongs to Quost, but the sunflower is mine in a way."
Vincent van Gogh (to Theo)
Letter 573
22 or 23 January 1889
Dr. Jan Hulsker, one of the world's foremost scholars of Vincent van Gogh, suggests that the sunflower series "perhaps more than any other of his paintings, have made him known throughout the world. They are often the only works with which he is identified."
Below is a complete listing of the sunflower works. When most people think of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings, they generally think of the works produced in Arles, France during 1888-89. However, I'm also including the four earlier sunflower paintings from Vincent's Paris period. While these four works are starkly different than the Arles sunflower series, they nevertheless reflect an outstanding achievement in Vincent's evolution as a painter.
In recent years a great deal of attention has been devoted to the authenticity of some of the sunflower paintings (namely, the Yasuda version) Most experts, however, have come to the conclusion that the Yasuda work is genuine. Unfortunately the arguments about authenticity have detracted from more critical and analytical studies of the works themselves--involved critical commentary of the sunflower series is surprisingly difficult to find.
In the weeks and months to come I hope to provide more commentary and analysis of these famous paintings. Jan Hulsker's observation of the sunflower series truly mirrors Vincent's own--they would indeed prove to be the works that Vincent is best beloved for. | 
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