Whenever you hear about Vincent van Gogh, the infamous sluicing of his own ear is always remarked upon, as is his syphilis and fragile mental health. Oh, and what a wonderfully original painter he was. Having visited the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, I was disappointed by the uninspiring nature of his artwork and slightly bemused what all the fuss was about. It seemed to me that the deadened still life and holiday snap portraits he slapped on to a canvas in thick, vile and outlandish colours had been misrepresented.

My first formal introduction to van Gogh however was almost a decade ago now, before I was schooled in the quintessential aspects of fine art - and indeed van Gogh himself. I don’t imagine many people would share my initial views of one of the world’s most famous artist’s and the van Gogh exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts would suggest they’d be right not to.

A lesser known fact about van Gogh is he had an overwhelming appetite for writing letters in which he liked nothing more than to express his opinions about art and literature for which he had an undying interest and utmost respect for anybody to master their craft. As we know, he was particularly taken by the French post-impressionist painter, Paul Gauguin, whom he became infatuated with. Indeed it was his lover for whom he painted one of his most famous paintings. ’Sunflowers’ was given to Gauguin to brighten up his room.

It is clear from reading van Gogh’s thoughts on the page that he was nothing short of a genius, though as proven time and again, a genius can be flawed. For the Dutchman it was his flagging mental health. In another of his most famous pieces, ’The Starry Night,’ the venomous swirling skies reflect van Gogh’s delusions and deepening distress. That it was painted a year before planting a bullet in his chest with handheld shot gun in a French field demonstrates just how deeply depressed the painter was. His letters in the latter phase of his life also underline his worsening frenzy.

That van Gogh’s two most famous paintings are absent from the exhibition is perhaps a poignant gesture by the Royal Academy, allowing visitors to understand the man behind the paintings rather than the artwork itself.

As a complete sidebar I have finally applied for a couple of Secondary education jobs in the arts sector. Wish me luck, I will keep you up to date when the interview date grews nearer!