Artists Who Died Young (Like Van Gogh)

Tree Roots (July 1890), Vincent Van Gogh

My Dad would have been 100 this month. While many artists lived to be over 100, like American Folk Artist, Grandma Moses (101), she and Architect, I. M. Pei (102) are the only two centenarians whose names I recognized in the Wikipedia List of centenarians (artists, painters, and sculptors). Instead, this post will list more familiar artists who met untimely deaths, many in their mid-30s, like Vincent Van Gogh.

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Expulsion from the
Garden of Eden (1425),
Masaccio

Let's begin with the youngest, Italian Renaissance Artist, Masaccio, who died at the age of 26 in 1428. Masaccio painted nudes and is noted for innovating the use of foreshortening in his figures using linear perspective. Like many who die suddenly, the cause of his death is unknown. Probably the most common cause of death is often due to complications from the disease of the day. In the Middle Ages, diseases of epidemic proportions included (among others): anthrax, bubonic plague, erysipelas (bacterial skin infection), leprosy, smallpox, and tuberculosis. Syphilis, a disease common to 10% of men in 17th century Europe, led to the demise of French Realist, Édouard Manet at 51.

The Old Woman (c. 1508),
Georgione

Back in the 16th century, Italian painters Giorgione and Raphael both died in their 30s. Florentine painter, Giorgione, famous for changing focus to light and color and away from shapes and figures, died in 1510 at age 32 from the plague. Sadly, only half a dozen of his paintings have survived. This portrait is reminiscent of the lighting effects used by Rembrandt.

Sistine Madonna (1512),
Raphael

Raphael is the youngest of the trinity that includes Michelangelo (89) and Leonardo da Vinci (67). Best known for his Madonnas and for his large figure compositions in the Vatican, Raphael died on his 37th birthday of a pulmonary illness (similar to today's coronavirus) that had been incorrectly diagnosed as intestinal disease. This particular Madonna is recognizable because of the two familiar cherubs at her feet. They often appear in today's advertisements.

The Raft of Medusa (c. 1818), Géricault

Best known for his Raft of the Medusa, French Romance painter Théodore Géricault died at 32 of a chronic tubercular infection, having been weakened by several horse riding accidents. He died only 12 years after exhibiting his first major work, The Charging Chasseur, at the Paris Salon of 1812. Also famous for his ten Portraits of the Insane, sadly only five survived. Not long after, in 1830, Delacroix painted his Liberty Leading the People, which I saw at the Louvre in Paris and was clearly influenced by Géricault. His raft painting was twice the size!

Wheat  Field with Crows (July 1890), Van Gogh

Van Gogh is perhaps my all-time favorite artist and one who produced quite a volume of great art (starting at age 27) that has surprisingly survived since his untimely death at age 36 in 1890. Suffering from mental illness and a series of disappointments, Van Gogh apparently died (accidentally?) by his own hand from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He painted with a lot of emotion and colors that were far from sad and dreary. 

For example, when I look at the colorful paintings of Edvard Munch, they are pretty much the definition of sad and dreary, and for me the opposite of how I feel when looking at a Van Gogh painting. However, this Van Gogh, painted in the last month of his life is a bit disturbing. The pathway or road seems to end abruptly and into a rather menacing and dark sky populated by some equally menacing crows. It makes me wonder how and what he was feeling on that day.

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
(c.1884), Georges Seurat

Georges Seurat is another French painter who died young at 31, on Easter Sunday in 1891. Who could forget his rendition of a Sunday afternoon spent on the banks of the River Seine in Paris? This is his most famous neo-impressionist or pointillist work. I also understand that it is a very large 6.8' X 10.1' canvas. It must be very impressive in person!

Girl With Braids (1918), Modigliani

In 1918, Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani painted Girl With Braids, which I use to teach about texture and pattern when we build our wrapping paper self-portraits. Two years later, he died at the age of 35 from complications of tubercular lung meningitis following years of alcohol and drug abuse. The effects of such diseases have been shown in paintings throughout history as far back as ancient times. The poet John Keats, the composer Frédéric Chopin, and the artist Edvard Munch were all affected by Tuberculosis.  Abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock also abused alcohol and died in a car crash at the age of 46.

When teaching about these artists and their work, I try not to focus on the tragic circumstances of their lives but rather on the magnificent legacy they created in their short time on earth.