We've all seen this classic piece of artwork, Starry Night, painted by Vincent Van Gogh.
The beautiful use of flowing light has amazed us all.
What many don't know is that Van Gogh painted Starry Night in the insane asylum Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in France.
He admitted himself after cutting off a piece of his own ear during a psychotic episode. Even Van Gogh thought this was worth capturing with a self-portrait.
Van Gogh suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy.
This condition is known to result in hallucinations as well as feelings of inspiration and fascination. Many believe that Van Gogh's psychosis may have inspired the beautifully turbulent nature of this work.
Scientists discovered something amazing about Van Gogh's paintings ONLY from the psychotic period of his life.....
When analyzing telescope images and the natural flow of light in and around the stars, they were struck by how similar it was to the flow of light in Van Gogh's Starry Night. Something more complex and mysterious was behind this striking similarity though.
After detailed analysis, scientists believe that Van Gogh unknowingly mastered one of the most enigmatic concepts in physical science: fluid turbulence.
Interestingly, only paintings Van Gogh made during his psychosis mimicked actual fluid turbulence – a principle that scientists haven't been able to characterize in decades of research.
Scientists believe that his psychosis allowed him to perceive relationships in motion
that the normal, healthy brain doesn't have access to.
It is too bad though that Van Gogh died having only sold one piece in his lifetime.
He is thought to have committed suicide with little recognition of his life's work – or his inherent genius, as we've now discovered!
Check out this great TED video that goes into more depth!
Share if you think Van Gogh is an underappreciated genius!
Main image via TED edCollage image via Wikidi
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