Paul-Ferdinand Gachet (30 July 1828 – 9 January 1909) was a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

most famous for treating the

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

during his last weeks in

Auvers-sur-Oise Auvers-sur-Oise (, literally ''Auvers on Oise'') is a commune in the department of Val-d'Oise, on the northwestern outskirts of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is associated with several famous artists, the most promin ...

. Gachet was a great supporter of artists and the Impressionist movement. He was an amateur painter, signing his works "Paul van Ryssel", referring to his birthplace: ''Rijsel'' is the Dutch name of Lille.

Biography

He was born and raised in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

. His family moved to

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

, where Gachet's father was transferred to in 1844/1845 to start a new branch of the firm he was working for. While a student at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

, he learnt drawing in his spare time, and collected paintings by

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...

and

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bor ...

. After gaining his BA degree, he worked at the mental hospitals of Bicêtre and Salpêtrière. His teachers included

Armand Trousseau Armand Trousseau (14 October 1801 – 23 June 1867) was a French internist. His contributions to medicine include Trousseau sign of malignancy, Trousseau sign of latent tetany, Trousseau–Lallemand bodies (an archaic synonym for Bence Jones ...

. In 1858 he received a medical degree for his thesis ''Étude sur la Mélancolie'' (Éditeur du Montpellier Médecal). He returned to Paris and set up a private homeopathic practice. Gachet married Blanche Castets in 1868. Their daughter, Margueritte Clémentine Elisa was born in 1869. In 1872 he moved to

, a town around from the centre of the city that was popular with artists. There he continued his medical practice, but also associated with artists such as

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( , ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

and

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

, Cézanne helping him establish his own studio in his attic. Gachet also knew

Champfleury Jules François Felix Fleury-Husson (17 September 1821, in Laon, Aisne – 6 December 1889, in Sèvres), who wrote under the name Champfleury (), was a French art critic and novelist, a prominent supporter of the Realist movement in painting an ...

and

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

. He was a friend of the chemist Henri Nestlé and prescribed Nestlé's new powdered milk supplement to some of his child patients. Under the pen-name Blanche de Mézin, he published books in medicine and art-criticism. He spent much time with Charles Méryon after the etcher's committal to Charenton. He oversaw

Auguste Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...

's recovery from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

in 1882. He advised

against the amputation of his leg. However, Manet did not follow this advice. Gachet's tomb is situated in section 52 of

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Gachet and Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh suffered from a mental disorder and was sent to an asylum on 8 May 1889. He then was released from the asylum in May 1890, but continuation of treatment was required, which included Van Gogh being under supervision. Vincent's brother, Theo van Gogh, thought that Gachet's background and sensitivity toward artists would make him an ideal doctor for Vincent during his recovery. Very soon after he began seeing Gachet, however, Vincent began to doubt the doctor's usefulness. Vincent described Gachet as: "sicker than I am, I think, or shall we say just as much". However, after a while of meeting up with Gachet, Van Gogh's opinion of him improved. Van Gogh found a friend in him; he mentions that he wasn't only a muse but also a caretaker. "Vincent alternately wrote of the doctor, 'I have found in him a complete friend, even something like a new brother, ... ' ". Gachet has been the subject of criticism over the years regarding Van Gogh's suicide after ten weeks of consultation. However, Van Gogh was either unable or unwilling to follow his doctor's advice to cut back on alcohol and smoking. According to van Gogh biographer Wilfred Arnold, "there was not much else available to any physician of the day which could have reversed the course of Vincent's illness," and he summarizes the medical treatment that Van Gogh received from his various doctors thus: "The overall assessment is rather that they did as well as expected with an unfamiliar disease and a difficult patient."

Subject in art

Gachet was friends with and treated Pissarro, Renoir, Manet, Cézanne and Goeneutte, to name just a few. He had amassed one of the largest impressionist art collections in Europe before he died in 1909. Gachet, his wife and his home were the subjects of several pieces of art by celebrated artists including: Portrait of Dr. Gachet.jpg, '' Portrait of Dr. Gachet'', painting by Vincent van Gogh (1890), first version Vincent van Gogh - Man with a Pipe (Portrait of Dr. Paul Gachet).jpg, ''Dr. Gachet'', etching by Vincent van Gogh (1890) Paul Gachet by Leandre.jpg, ''Paul Gachet'' by Charles Leandre (c. 1887) Paul Gachet by Detrez.jpg, ''Paul Gachet'' by Ambroise Detrez (1850-1852) Norbert Gœneutte - Le Docteur Paul Gachet.jpg, ''Paul Gachet'', painting by Norbert Goeneutte (1891),

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French a ...

, Paris Paul Gachet by Bernard.jpg, ''Paul Gachet'' by Émile Bernard (1926 posthumous) Musée d'Orsay La Maison du Docteur Gachet à Auvers, par Paul Cézanne.jpg,

, ''The House of Doctor Gachet in Auvers'' (1872-1873) Musée d’Orsay

Portrayals

Everett Sloane Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television. Early life Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gerst ...

played Gachet in

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), '' An American in Paris'' (1951), ' ...

’s '' Lust for Life. Gachet is prominently featured in Maurice Pialat's 1991 film

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

where he is played by Gérard Séty.

Mathieu Amalric Mathieu Amalric (; born 25 October 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker. He is best known internationally for his roles in the James Bond film ''Quantum of Solace'', in which he played the lead villain, Steven Spielberg's ''Munich'', Wes Ander ...

plays Gachet in

Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...

's ''

At Eternity's Gate ''Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate)'' is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he made in 1890 in Saint-Rémy de Provence based on an early lithograph. The painting was completed in early May at a time when he was convalescing from a ...

'', which depicts van Gogh (

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...

) painting Gachet's portrait in one scene.

Jerome Flynn Jerome Patrick Flynn (born 16 March 1963) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Paddy Garvey of the King's Fusiliers in the ITV series ''Soldier Soldier'', Bronn in the hit HBO series '' Game of Thrones'', and Benn ...

plays Gachet in the 2017 film ''

Loving Vincent ''Loving Vincent'' ( pl, Twój Vincent) is a 2017 experimental adult animated biographical drama film about the life of the painter Vincent van Gogh, and, in particular, about the circumstances of his death. It is the first fully painted animat ...

'' (notable for being animated entirely through oil paintings in van Gogh's style), in a scene where he discusses his own role in Vincent's final days.

In popular culture

"Dr. Gachet", a song written and sung by

Rod MacDonald Rod MacDonald (born August 17, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, novelist, and educator. He was a "big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs", performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the "Songwr ...

in 1997, tells the painting's history and notes "the painting Van Gogh couldn't sell / has become too valuable / for anyone to ever see again."

References

External links

*
Biographical note by Jacqueline Sonolet and Paul Gachet's works digitized
by th
BIUM (Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de médecine et d'odontologie, Paris)
see its digital librar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gachet, Paul 1828 births 1909 deaths People from Lille Physicians from Mechelen French art collectors 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century French physicians French homeopaths 19th-century French male artists