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Genius and madness seem to overlap quite frequently, especially in the art world. Many of history's most visionary creatives lived fearlessly loyal to themselves, regardless of the enemies it might have made them. Tragically, these enemies frequently turned into assailants. Sometimes, even, the artists themselves became murderers. Indeed, whether in the name of passion, of madness, or simply of art, murder is no stranger to the art world.
From Renaissance masters to modern-day performance artists, some of the world's greatest artistic talents became the victims or perpetrators of humanity's darkest act. Read on to learn about some of the greatest artists whose lives were haunted by murder.
Tommaso Masaccio, simply known as Masaccio, was one of the early masters of the Italian Renaissance. Widely respected for his work in the Brancacci Chapel, his skill attracted both admirers and jealous competitors.
While the exact circumstances surrounding Masaccio's death are unknown, legend has it that the young painter, only 26 years old at the time of his death, was poisoned by a rival painter in 1428.
Acclaimed Renaissance sculptor Benvenuto Cellini left an indelible mark on the history of art with his masterful works in gold and bronze. The turbulence of his long, storied life were in stark contrast to his soft and impassioned sculptures.
Cellini embraced his violent side from an early age, beginning with the murder of the man who had killed his brother in 1529. Cellini would spend the most part of his life on the run, frequently getting in fights and wounding, or sometimes killing, his opponents.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, best known as simply Caravaggio, may have been forgotten in the shadows of his Renaissance contemporaries if it weren't for his uproarious and controversial personal life.
Caravaggio's paintings were known for their dramatic use of light and depictions of history's most violent scenes, but his life away from the easel was no less dramatic. Caravaggio, known for his violent outbursts, beat a man to death in the early 17th century and was forced into hiding after being charged with murder.
Richard Dadd, a celebrated painter of Victorian England, was known then as he is today for his vibrant, detailed, and fantastical depictions of magic, fairies, and other supernatural phenomena.
Unfortunately, Dadd had been troubled from a young age, and became progressively more paranoid as life went on. In 1843, under the delusion that his father was the devil in disguise, Dadd stabbed his own father to death.
No artist's life story is as tragic or as well known as Vincent van Gogh's. The prolific painter produced just under one thousand pieces of art in his lifetime, but only managed to sell one. His death remains just as dumbfounding as his contemporaries' lack of recognition for his genius.
The popular story tells us that van Gogh attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest, and died from the wound two days afterwards. That story, however, has never been proven; many maintain the belief that van Gogh was shot, and ultimately murdered, by someone else.
Eadweard Muybridge was an an English photographer renowned around the world for his trailblazing work in motion-picture photography.
The artist, best known for his revolutionary 'Horse in Motion' study (pictured), also happened to be a murderer. In 1874, after identifying the man his wife was having an affair with, Muybridge shot him dead. Surprisingly, Muybridge managed to avoid a criminal conviction with a rare and controversial ruling of "justifiable homicide" being passed down from the judge.
Celebrated landscape painter Tom Thomson was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1877. Thomson's love for the outdoors was expressed in his many oil paintings of the natural world.
Thomson died under suspicious circumstances in Algonquin National Park while on a canoe trip. Thomson's drowning in Canoe Lake made those close to him suspicious, since Thomson was such an accomplished outdoorsman. The true cause of death has never been revealed, but many believe that Thomson was murdered on the lake.
The world lost countless great artists to the Nazis' vile campaign of genocide during World War II. One such artist was Charlotte Salomon, a German-Jewish painter born in Berlin.
Salomon, who is today best remembered for her paintings depicting the first years of Nazi Germany, managed to avoid capture in France until 1943. In October of that year, a pregnant Salomon was sent to Auschwitz, where she was murdered shortly after arriving.
Another victim of the Holocaust was Felix Nussbaum, a young German-born Jewish artist who was studying art in Rome when Hitler rose to power in Germany.
Nussbaum spent the years between 1933 and 1944 in exile, running from the Nazis all across Europe. He was eventually caught hiding in an attic in Belgium and sent to Auschwitz, where he, his wife, and his entire family were summarily murdered.
Born in the Netherlands at the turn of the 20th century, Willem Arondeus would go on to lead a fearless life of art, rebellion, and resistance. Openly gay for all of his adult life, Arondeus fought tooth and nail against Nazi powers in Europe.
As part of the Dutch resistance movement, Arondeus worked with his colleagues to forge travel documents for those fleeing the Nazis. In 1943, Arondeus and other members of the Dutch resistance bombed the Amsterdam public records office in order to destroy the traces of those wanted by the Gestapo or scheduled for deportation. Arondeus, along with 13 of his co-conspirators, were found and executed by the Nazis. Just before his execution, Arondeus spoke his last words: "Tell the people that homosexuals are not by definition weak."
Influential and provocative Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, who was also a visual artist and much more, made many enemies over the course of his storied career. Openly gay and vehemently communist, Pasolini's films upset more than a few people in the hyper religious and traditional circles of Italy.
Pasolini met a gruesome fate on November 2, 1975, when he was likely assassinated by the Mafia for his sexuality and political views. He was run over multiple times with his own car, and his testicles were crushed with a metal bar.
Minimalist sculpture artist Carl Andre is known for his monolithic works constructed out of mostly pure materials. Born in 1935, Andre's work remains well respected, while his personal life is a bit more complicated.
Andre married fellow artist Ana Mendieta in 1985. That same year, following an argument between the newlyweds, Mendieta fell to her death from Andre's 34th story apartment window. Many believe that Andre purposefully pushed Mendieta out of his window, although he was acquitted by a judge of second-degree murder.
During the 20th century in the United States, few performance artists made more noise than Chris Burden. Famous for his sculptures and punishing pieces of endurance art, there wasn't much Burden wouldn't do in the name of creative expression.
Burden's unshakable principles were perhaps best displayed in his 1971 piece titled 'Shoot.' Never a man for cryptic names, the piece involved Burden being shot from a close distance by an assistant. The shot wasn't fatal, but the act of putting himself in mortal danger was at the center of the performance.
See also: These famous artists struggled with mental illness
Art and assassination: Notorious stories of murdered, and murderous, artists
The age-old marriage of crime and creativity
LIFESTYLE History
Genius and madness seem to overlap quite frequently, especially in the art world. Many of history's most visionary creatives lived fearlessly loyal to themselves, regardless of the enemies it might have made them. Tragically, these enemies frequently turned into assailants. Sometimes, even, the artists themselves became murderers. Indeed, whether in the name of passion, of madness, or simply of art, murder is no stranger to the art world.
From Renaissance masters to modern-day performance artists, some of the world's greatest artistic talents became the victims or perpetrators of humanity's darkest act. Read on to learn about some of the greatest artists whose lives were haunted by murder.