He was considered to be mentally ill, especially after he cut off his own ear, so he was put inside a mental institution. He even drew a portrait of himself after he did this called Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (Lubin 13)
Van Gogh is considered among the greatest of the "post-impressionist" artists. His artwork is well-known in part because of its bold use of color, course strokes and interestingly contoured art forms (Pioch, 2002)
This longing to be with like-minded people is but one element of his many letters to his brother Theo. It is well-known that Theo sacrificed much of his own "spiritual happiness" to provide for and serve his brother (Holroyd-Reece & Meier-Graefe, 1933)
Vincent became popular only after his death because people found his tragic life experience extraordinary. Some of the pain and emotions he felt are evident through his letters to his brother, while other emotions are evident through the pictures he painted, particularly his self-portrait (Meissner, 1993)
As for me, I am rather often uneasy in my mind, because I think that my life has not been calm enough; all those bitter disappointments, adversities, changes keep me from developing fully and naturally in my artistic career."(Vincent van Gogh Letter W1116 June 1889) (Van Gogh (http://www
More importantly, Madame Roulin reminded Van Gogh of his own mother and his relationship with her. The reason why Van Gogh painted with a "sudden burst of activity" after baby Marcelle was born might have been because he saw a bit of himself in the new baby," (Hulsker 570)
An emotionally and psychologically powerful painting, "Mother Roulin with Her Baby" represents Van Gogh's lifelong interest in depicting working or middle class life as opposed to the lives of the bourgeois. Van Gogh had long been inspired by the painter Millit, who likewise loved depicting peasants (Lubin)
In fact, Mr. Roulin had been transferred to work in Marseilles and had to leave behind his family "just as Vincent's father had taken leave in death and left his mother behind," (Winer 165)