Albert Frey

popular name: Ferdinand Cheval

date_of_death: August 19, 1924

age: 88

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Factuer Cheval was a French postman who spent thirty-three years of his life building Le Palais idéal (the "Ideal Palace") in Hauterives, France. The Palace is regarded as an extraordinary example of naïve art architecture. Upon completion in 1912 of his "dream palace" after 33 years of hard work, Cheval spent another 8 years building his tomb in the Parish cemetery. He died one year after the completion of his own tomb.

popular name: Vincent van Gogh

date_of_death: July 29, 1890

age: 37

cause_of_death: Suicide - Gunshot wound

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Vincent van Gogh 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, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and self-portraits, and are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, contain few signs of the vivid colour that distinguished his later work. In 1886, he moved to Paris where he met members of the avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As his work developed he created a new approach to still life and landscape. His paintings grew brighter as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the South of France in 1888. During this period he broadened his subject matter to include series of olive trees, wheat fields and sunflowers. During his lifetime van Gogh was not commercially successful and, struggling with severe depression and poverty, committed suicide at the age of 37.

popular name: Oscar Levant

date_of_death: August 14, 1972

age: 65

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Oscar Levant was a brilliant composer and pianist who originally studied seriously with Zygmunt Stojowski and later with Arnold Schoenberg. After New York he moved to Los Angeles where he met and befriended George Gershwin. From 1929 to 1948 he composed the music for more than twenty movies and began making the rounds on TV games shows and quickly gained notorioty for his acerbic "wit." When Greshwin passed away Levant became the leading interpreter and virtuoso performer of the Gershwin catalog. Appearing in films (such as American in Paris; usually as himself or as the host pianist) he could always be counted on for his stoic and sarcastic on-screen persona. In later years he became increasing dependent on alcohol, chain smoking and prescription drugs so much so he was committed multiple times to a mental institution.