The red curtain or Hommage à Vincent

The ominous red of the heavy curtain dominates the picture and divides it into a back and front section. The latter is determined by the man, crouched on the floor, with his arms and legs bent, his fists clenched, eyes and mouth wide open; as the observer of the picture you can feel the increase in tonus, the stiffening of the reclining body. A knowledgeable and experienced person recognises: This picture shows the tonic, the "tense" phase of a major epileptic fit.

The person who has fallen is the painter, Vincent van Gogh – not just the caption under the picture ("Hommage à Vincent" reveals the identity of the man, but also details contained in the painting: the humble furnishings (which marked the home of van Gogh in Arles), the colour palette on the table (which betrays the profession of the reclining figure), the (overturned) yellow chair (most frequent motif of the "Interior pictures" of the Dutch painter) and finally the red head and beard of the man, which can be seen in many self-portraits of van Gogh.

Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890) suffered from epilepsy; thus, he belongs to the large group of "famous epileptics" (which, for example, also included Caesar, Napoleon or Dostojewskij). Much speaks for the fact that van Gogh suffered from focal epilepsy, which was associated with basic focal and partially complex ("psychomotoric") attacks. Both doctors who treated van Gogh for his "neurological disorder" in the last two years of his life – both Dr. Rey (in the hospital of Arles) as well as Dr. Peyron (in the sanatorium for persons suffering from neurological and psychiatric illnesses in St. Rémy) – give the diagnosis epilepsy in their medical records. And, consequently, both doctors treat the sick painter with bromine potassium, the only known fit-inhibiting substance at the time. (Incidentally, this medication is also mentioned by van Gogh in the letters to his brother Theo.)

Van Gogh himself experienced his epileptic attacks as a serious, major interference: "Everything was going well with my work", he wrote to his brother, "the last picture was blossoming twigs; You will see: Maybe among my work that which I did best and with the most patience – painted with a calm and safe movement of the paint brush. And the next day thrown down like a piece of cattle."

The creator of the picture shown here * is not known. We only know that the oil painting emerged around 1965 within the framework of painting therapy in an institution for patients suffering from epileptic fits; thus the artist himself suffered from epilepsy and must have known the life history and the artistic work of his "fellow sufferer" van Gogh well. Maybe the intensity of the red colour of the curtain reflects the threat to his own life, which the painter of this picture experienced through the effects of his illness – the colour red, which for many centuries has repeatedly acted as a reminder of the influence and the power of demons in illnesses and evil spirits in corresponding artistic presentations (particularly in connection with the fear of epilepsy). The intensive red is litigated through the blue sky, which throws a light through the parts of the curtain – maybe a glimmer of hope? But this small piece of consolation is seen in relative terms once again through the black birds, spread across the blue colour– again a reminder of a picture of van Gogh, of his last, which he painted shortly before he committed suicide in July 1890: "Cornfield with Ravens".

The anonymous picture presented here is on the one hand an impressive document for an attempt to come to terms with an own illness, on the other hand to show solidarity with other persons suffering from epileptic fits. There is a real reason why the ‚ Michael Foundation', which has focussed on the needs of epileptics for many years, has chosen this picture as its logo.

* The original of the picture is hanging in the German Epilepsy Museum Kork (www.epilepsiemuseum.de).