Van Gogh may not have killed himself, researchers say

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New research into the life of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh argues that the tormented artist – whose paintings Starry Night, Sunflowers, Irises and Poppies adorn the walls of admirers around the world – may not have killed himself after all.

Up until now, historians have believed that Van Gogh, who cut off his ear in a fit of madness, died at the age of 37 in 1890 in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, when he walked in to a wheat field, shot himself, and then walked back to the inn where he was staying to die.

But 10 years of research by two Pulitzer-Prize winning authors argues that it is more likely that the painter was killed accidentally by two boys known to Van Gogh. The findings still need to be studied closely by historians, but the authors believe that it is unlikely the painter killed himself.

"The accepted understanding of what happened in Auvers among the people who knew him was that he was killed accidentally by a couple of boys and he decided to protect them by accepting the blame," says Steven Naifeh, co-author with Gregory White Smith of Van Gogh: The Life.

The authors argue that the bullet seems to have entered the painter's upper abdomen at an oblique angle, thereby discounting a suicide and suggesting an accident.

"These two boys, one of whom was wearing a cowboy outfit and had a malfunctioning gun that he played cowboy with, were known to go drinking at that hour of day with Vincent.

"So you have a couple of teenagers who have a malfunctioning gun, you have a boy who likes to play cowboy, you have three people, probably all of whom had too much to drink," Mr. Naifeh says.

The authors believe that the Van Gogh chose to protect the boys by accepting blame for the shooting.

The theory has been met with surprise in the art world. Curator Leo Jansen of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam says there are still questions that remain about the painter's death and that it would be "premature to rule out suicide," he told the BBC.