Kate, I also believe there's a story about him cutting off his ear and sending it to the one he loved. Not sure if it is true or not. He did have problems, but he was brilliant.
Well it wasn't such a romantic story.....
In 1888 while living in Arles, he cut off the lower part of his ear after a violent argument with Gaugin, and later presented it to a prostitute.
In previous years he had been treated for STDs, and he also suffered from epilepsy.
In 1890 he shot himself and died 2 days later. His brother Theo was by his side.
How tragic that Theo's great-grandson, also named Theo Van Gogh, also died a violent death in 2004:
(quote from a newspaper)
Mohammed Bouyeri assassinated van Gogh in the early morning of Tuesday November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam, while he was bicycling to work. He shot him eight times with an HS 2000 (a handgun produced in 2000 in Croatia), and Van Gogh died on the spot. Bouyeri then cut van Gogh's throat, nearly decapitating him, and stabbed him in the chest. Two knives were left implanted in his torso.