Stuff you don’t need to know, and yet

TO be a genius, even to be considered among the best in history, is no guarantee that you won't die in poverty.

(On the other hand, as we see in the world around us, there are many who become extremely wealthy, even among the richest in the world, who don't necessarily possess much real talent.)

Vincent van Gogh is one of the greatest painters ever. Even people who are not interested in art will recognise works such as Starry Night and Sunflowers, and he holds pride of place in the best art galleries. Yet, in his entire life (1853 to 1890) he sold only a single painting. When he committed suicide he had not a penny to his name.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 to 1669) was indeed famous during his lifetime and sold many paintings, but after the death of his wife and muse, Saskia van Uylenburgh, his creativity and life declined rapidly. He was declared bankrupt in 1656 and died in poverty. Two hundred years after his death, Amsterdam built the Rijksmuseum in his honour.

Poor Johannes Vermeer (1632 to 1675) also died in poverty because his work was only “discovered" long after his passing. The Rijksmuseum's exhibition of 28 of his paintings in June this year was a significant event in the international art world.

The English poet and writer Oscar Wilde (1854 to 1900) is still frequently quoted and regarded as one of the greatest literary figures of the 19th century. He died, impoverished and alone, in a sleazy hotel in Paris.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 to 1900) was a German philosopher who challenged the entire foundation of Christianity and traditional morality. He suffered serious mental health problems, even though he wrote: “All superior men who were irresistibly drawn to throw off the yoke of any kind of morality and to frame new laws had, if they were not actually mad, no alternative but to make themselves or pretend to be mad." He died in poverty.

(I saw a T-shirt in Berlin in the 1980s with the words: Nietzsche ist tot — Gott.)

One of the greatest physicists, engineers and inventors in history, Nikola Tesla (1856 to 1943), also died in poverty. He was the inventor of alternating current and the radio, and he appeared on the cover of Time in 1931. In his last years, he had a love affair with a white dove. 

– Max du Preez

♦ VWB ♦

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