Where Lust for Life added to the mythology was Douglas’s presentation of Van Gogh as a highly strung tormented artist, impulsive and filled with pent-up emotions. This painting will form the centrepiece for Detroit’s coming exhibition Van Gogh in America (21 June-27 September). The actor studied the self-portraits carefully, modelling himself particularly on the one with the straw hat, now at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Vincent van Gogh’s Self-portrait (1887) Courtesy of Detroit Institute of Artsĭouglas even managed to take on the physical appearance of the artist, or at least the Van Gogh we know from his self-portraits (there are no surviving photographs of the artist after the age of 20). As Douglas recalled in his 1988 autobiography The Ragman’s Son: “It was horrible to be standing in the field where he painted his last painting-the crows in the wheatfield-leaning on the same tree with a gun in my hand.” To add to the authenticity, much of the film was shot on location in the places where Van Gogh had lived and worked, leading up to his suicide in Auvers-sur-Oise. They even gave their son Peter, who was born during the production, the middle name Vincent. His wife Anne once said that he would return home after filming still reflecting Van Gogh’s character. The actor’s success was due to totally immersing himself in the part. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the film has had a key role in shaping the public’s perception of Van Gogh today, 64 years later.ĭouglas once said of acting in Lust for Life that “the painful experience was probing into the soul of a tormented artist”. The 1956 film, based on Irving Stone’s 1934 novel, helped turn both the artist and the actor into global stars. Kirk Douglas, who portrayed Vincent van Gogh in Lust for Life, died last week, aged 103.

Lust for life book