Some of the most brilliant minds, as well as the brightest stars, in the world only truly conquered it after they died. Many were poor or unknown or bore the heavy weight of being misunderstood in their lifetimes. Today, they are household names, but their journeys to immortality only began when their stories ended. Let’s look back at these iconic figures and the worlds that they lived in, and why we still hold them so close to our hearts.
#1: Vincent van Gogh
Think of a man who painted swirling night skies and sold only one canvas while he was alive. We remember him as the ultimate tortured artist, a man born a century too early for his own good. In the late 1800s, Europe preferred traditional polished art and could not see the emotion in his thick brushstrokes. He was pouring vibrant colors while battling severe mental illness and deep poverty. Today, his canvases fetch hundreds of millions of dollars at auction.
