Fame after Death


Roxanne

      God works in mysterious ways.  People long for fame and most of them work hard throughout their lives to become famous.  Ironically, reputation always comes only when one is dead.

     Take Vincent Van Gogh as an example.  He is thought to be the most important Dutch painter, but his whole life can be only described as 「a failure.」  When he was still alive, almost all his works were neglected by the crowd.  In 1888 after a quarrel with Gauguin, Gogh cut down his left ear and his psychological state became worse.  He never stopped suffering from psychosis afterwards.  It lasted until 1889 when Gogh shot himself in the chest and ended his miserable life.

    Today, people all over the world admire the style of Gogh』s works and respect him as a great painter.  But this fame only came after his death.  God』 work is really a mystery.  Many artists created works that were ahead of their times and thus were not appreciated by their contemporaries.  Their works may enjoy a higher price later, but they themselves would never live to enjoy it.  Such is the irony of fame.

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