Vincent van Gogh used art to express his intensely emotional response to
the world around him. Enraptured by the beauty of nature and tormented
by the sorrows of human existence, he produced, in his tragically short
life, some of the most powerfully expressive paintings ever seen. Many
have made the mistake of thinking him mad, though he did suffer periods
of mental anguish throughout his life. However, Van Gogh's paintings are
not the works of a madman.