Vincent Van Gogh remains the ultimate example of the tortured artistic genius. His whole life was a struggle against poverty, loneliness and mental illness. In a feverish spell of painting prior to his death, he proved himself a great artist. The hundreds of canvases that he painted in the South of France are now recognized as masterpieces of the Post-Impressionist age. His use of thick, swirling color was a conscious attempt to express his own tortured state of mind through his work. In his landscapes, still-lifes and portraits, he succeeded. Though he sold just one painting in his lifetime, works such as Sunflowers now sell for tens of millions of dollars. 50 min.