July 29 1890

Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, 37, dies in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, two days after shooting himself in the chest. He was being cared for by French physician Dr Paul Gachet during the final months of his life. In just over a decade Van Gogh created about 2 100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life.

His suicide follows years of mental illness and poverty. His “Portrait of Dr Gachet”, painted in June 1890 (pictured left), is sold for $82.5-million ($154.5-million today) on May 15 1990