New book claims Vincent Van Gogh did not commit suicide
A new book about the celebrated Dutch painter casts the popular belief that he shot himself in the chest in a field in France into doubt.
Van Gogh: The Life, by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, suggests that the most likely cause of Van Gogh's death is at the hands of a third party, believed to be a local boy.
The theory contradicts the accepted version of events, which holds that Van Gogh shot himself in a field, staggering more than a mile back to an inn where he was staying. Before dying 30 hours later, he was asked if he meant to commit suicide, and said: "Yes I believe so"....