Awards, Press & Interests

Finally Love (8 Part Drama Mini-Series)

Auvers-sur-Oise, France, July 29th, 1890: Whispers are heard that a foreign painter has taken his own life, or so it was claimed as he lay on his deathbed. This painter is none other than Vincent van Gogh, then an unknown artist, and the real truth of what actually happened that day is far stranger and more dramatic than the suicide myth that has been falsely passed on for generations. The key to understanding this tragedy is to look to van Gogh’s last 70 days, the role of Marguerite Gachet and the events that led Vincent to find, finally love… a love he sought his entire life… a love that, once found, ultimately led to his premeditated murder. After the infamous “ear episode” and a year-long self-imposed stay in a mental institution, Vincent has arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise to focus on his painting and a new life without his previous demons. It is in this small artistic community that he enters the medical care of a widowed homeopathic doctor, Dr. Paul Ferdinand Gachet, whose household reveals itself to be more of a “mad house” than where the painter has just taken leave. In fact, Dr. Gachet’s home takes “dysfunctional family” to another level: The doctor rules with an iron fist, his teenage son Paul Jr. is a strange, immature young man prone to violent bouts of jealousy and narcissism, and his housekeeper's daughter, Louise-Josephine, is in truth the doctor’s secret illegitimate child who is forced to remain eternally in hiding from the entire community. Yet within this unstable family, there is one shining light: Dr. Gachet’s young daughter Marguerite Clementine Gachet, a slightly naïve girl filled with hopes, dreams and a unique yearning to take everything the world has to offer. In her path to escape her father's total control of her life, Marguerite embarks on a mission to becomes van Gogh's one true love. A mutually passionate and highly secretive romance erupts between them, one that will ultimately change both their lives forever. This Limited Series follows Marguerite and Vincent’s brief 70-day forbidden love affair before his murder. This scandalous romance risked her family’s reputation… a risk that they were not willing to accept, even if it meant that the only solution was murder. As their love affair spirals towards its tragic conclusion, the viewers will learn the “persons of interest” and “clues” involved in van Gogh’s untimely death. And it is through the eyes of Marguerite, Vincent's naive lover, (and her bastard-sister Louise-Josephine) that we explore one of the most significant and previously unknown “cold cases” in art history, one suppressed for a century, as we finally reveal the truth of who was actually responsible for the death of the iconic Vincent van Gogh, and how this crime affected art history forever. Unlike other depictions of van Gogh’s life, the true focus of our story is Marguerite, Vincent’s one and only true love. The show is the coming of age story of a girl learning to find love, understand guilt and responsibility, and finally break free from the very abusive prison that she calls home in order to head down a path towards her own redemption. Finally Love is the timeless story of the unknown heroine in the van Gogh saga, and how Marguerite Clementine Gachet, a woman living in a male dominated society in which she had no rights, no property, no vote and no social status of her own, faced unbelievable challenges and made grave sacrifices in order to shape the history of the modern art world and secure Vincent van Gogh’s artwork and his legacy for all of us.

Killing Vincent: The Man, The Myth, and The Murder

On July 27, 1890, Vincent van Gogh came stumbling into his room in the Ravoux Inn, in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, bleeding from a wound in his abdomen. Thirty hours later, Vincent was dead. THe common myth, which has prevailed for over one hundred years, is that the "mad" artist shot himself in a wheatfield after suffering from years of unhappiness and "insanity". But is that what really happened?Killing Vincent is meant as a historical analysis and exposé of the most dastardly murder of Vincent van Gogh and the19th century, nefarious cover up of the world's most iconic artist's death. This is the biggest cold case in the annals of the art world. I have attempted to continue to explore the key questions that TIME magazine asked in its October 31, 2011, cover story: "Who killed Vincent van Gogh?" and "Was van Gogh's death really a suicide?" on the "Culture" Cover. I have attempted to answer both questions by adding in modern 21st century forensic analysis. This work is not meant as an academic treatise or dissertation, with every observation, thought, and detail requiring documentation. It is only an attempt as an expose', to seek the truth of what really happened on the day Vincent van Gogh was mortally wounded, and to best connect all the missing "dots". In the process, I will try to fit the best murder scenario into what little is really accepted, and why he was murdered....significantly changing art history! This book attempts to explore all possible scenarios, no matter how likely or unlikely, or how relevant or irrelevant they may appear to be to this cold case at first glance. Which of several scenarios best puts all the facts, stories, and legends together and connects all these odd "dots" now in a persuasive manner? Sometimes the truth is more unbelievable than the reality it discloses.

Marguerite and Vincent: The Unmasked Love Affair That Got Him Honor Killed

There are several paintings completed by Vincent that unquestioningly depict Marguerite Gachet, which we will explore in more detail in the following chapters. Are there perhaps other paintings and sketches of Marguerite that were hastily completed in quiet corners away from watchful eyes but not thusly attributed, or even lost? Knowing Dr. Gachet’s feelings about the painter’s proximity to his daughter, Vincent tried his best to hide the new and exciting relationship with Marguerite from the male Gachets and their housekeeper, Mme Chevalier. Certainly, the simple solution was to sketch and paint Marguerite from memory without a formal sitting, and avoid naming her as the model. By not labeling Marguerite, Vincent may have thought that their love affair remained secret, when in reality it may have been obvious to all that the two were lovers.

My Two Mothers Were Sisters - The Lazarus Factor

Napoleon and his military key staff stop to re-shod his famous white horse in the village of Mariempole in the Slavant (now Lithuania) during his misadventures in Mother Russia. The village blacksmith was my great-great grandfather, Mordechai Finkelstein. His son Lazarus, a young child, also met Napoleon, but had to hide in a hay loft to avoid being conscripted before Napoleon left the village. What is the Lazarus Factor? I am…. Dr. Irving Hanan Kaufman (Karchmer) Arenberg. You would expect from that long and convoluted name an unusual historical basis and a very interesting family history…. and an unusual personal story. Well hopefully, here it is….and for starters … my two mothers were sisters. …That’s just the obvious part of the Lazarus factor. How did/does Lazarus impact me? How is that possible??….........What is the LAZARUS FACTOR? Let’s start to connect the dots………………………………… “Four shots ripped into my groin and I was off on the greatest adventure of my life.” Well that was the opening lines of my cousin, Max Shulman’s best seller, SLEEP TIL NOON (1950). He was also a Hollywood screenwriter and wrote Rally Round the Flag Boys, starring Paul Newman and his wife (for the 1st time together), Joanne Woodward. He also wrote House Calls starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson. So, he is one of many creative souls in the arts and many other unusual family characters’ that I want to introduce you to in the course of trying to connect the dots and fit all of the unusual pieces of my varied and eclectic life together. I suppose you should be wondering and asking yourself why do I really want to read anything about this guy or his families story? Will I find it intriguing, emotionally uplifting? Boring? ……. Or really why bother? Well, for starters, let us see how it came to be that I was, de facto, Vincent Van Gogh’s (VVG) ear doc? (See JAMA, July, 1990). I was VVG ear doc in the sense that I read all of his 760 extant letters and used his, almost daily writings as if taking a medical history from VVG. He often wrote about how he was feeling, or what medical problems he was having. So I made the diagnosis of Meniere's disease from his clinical history provided to me by his own written description of his recurrent, intermittent malady. Thus I was, diagnostically, in effect, his ear doc. Hopefully you will scratch your head and go read the original article to better understand this tidbit of medical trivia. First a little back ground and overview to see how that pathway evolved to put me into that position; Basically, I have had 3 successful careers in the last 15 +years (see resume in appendix); 1. Internationally recognized ear surgeon and clinical researcher on Inner ear disorders and Meniere’s disease with many books edited, chapters and many peer reviewed articles published. The one article, which gained worldwide notoriety was published in JAMA, in July,1990, 100 years to the week of his suicide in August, 1890. The JAMA article was prime front page news around the world in the lay press after the press release embargo was lifted. I was also on CBS This Morning, live with Paula Zahn, the day the embargo was lifted and for 24 hours of fame, was all about one of my hero’s (See details in Chapter…”aura of Greatness), Vincent Van Gogh (VVG), and his previously undiagnosed inner ear condition, (Meniere’s disease). 2. Entrepreneur who started a medical device company based on my own intellectual property (3 patents) with my two sons, Dan and Mike, both lawyers and MBA’s. Our company was successfully sold to a Pharma CO in Silicon Valley. Why did I deviate from my clinical practice? 3. Portfolio manager for a boutique gold/Precious Metals sector hedge fund in NY. My trading track record was 82+% CAR (compound annual return per year,) for ~10 years. That’s some really good years and some really not so good years. How and why did I take and make such a major series of career changes? Let’s start at the beginning and start to connect the dots and then, importantly what is/was and will be the Lazarus factor and its significance to me and all of our future? Why these 3 major, different, sequential and successful careers changes? This is particularly unusual/unique since I have been told by many colleague’s, friends and family that I should have never been a success at much of anything and that all who knew my childhood background would have easily come to my defense of successive failures rather than a string of career successes…………. They could easily say, what else would you expect?” Let’s see what you think, dear reader, after I add some color for you.

The Day Vincent Van Gogh Was Murdered: Led to the Greatest Art Heist in Modern History

The suicide or murder of Vincent van Gogh is currently the most discussed and disputed aspect of this enigmatic artist's life and mysterious death today! Those currently in control of his public narrative for their lucrative livelihood, refuse to accept the fact that Vincent did not commit suicide as a martyr for his art. This would be a real tear jerker if true, but sadly it is a “blasphemy” for anyone willing to challenge the suicide narrative with anything so banal as truth, “just a murder”- just an honor killing by his lovers family! The van Gogh art heist, now the largest number and greatest value art theft of any single artist ever in a single day, is based on shrouded and sketchy historic events. This was de facto, the largest art heist in the nineteenth century and in all of modern art history, excluding the horrific and unconscionable Nazi’s rape of the best European art in the twentieth century. At anticipated current market conditions in the modern era with new and innovative world-wide van Gogh interactive and “immersive” exhibitions, uncovering a probable major van Gogh masterpiece, and the unflagging interest in owning a van Gogh, the theft of 26 van Gogh painting must be considered unquestionably, the largest and most valuable art heist in modern times by a single artist. On July 30, 1890, a hot and muggy afternoon, shortly after Vincent van Gogh was laid to rest after his honor killing for “compromising” his doctor’s twenty-one-year-old daughter, twenty-six (26) of his unknown paintings and other art material were taken from the hotel where his final viewing occurred by his doctor and his son. This was the largest art heist of a single artist ever and led to the Gachet art forgery ring and many fakes, forgeries, and altered provenance for years.

What Secrets Did Van Gogh Take With Him To His Grave: The Autopsy Results

The mission of the Killing Vincent Project (KVP) seeks the full extent of forensic evidence to definitively prove that Vincent van Gogh did not commit suicide. Our case has demonstrated that neither the psychological interpretation of van Gogh’s state of mind while in Auvers-sur-Oise nor his modern suicide profile analysis can meet the basic threshold for suicide. Furthermore, twenty-first century wound reenactments have cast the suicide thesis in reasonable doubt, indicating by default that murder was the cause of Vincent van Gogh’s death. All that remains is to put that theory to the ultimate test via analysis of the artist’s remains, whatever state they may be in now. To conduct this critical research, the KVP team needs to obtain the required permission from the French Ministry of Culture. For that, we first appeal to the Ministry of Culture’s recognition of the artist’s legacy as the father of Expressionism and his significance as a pivotal figure in art history. It is, after all, the Ministry’s duty to honor history by upholding facts and seeking truths. As we attempt to make our case to the Ministry of Culture, the second basis for the minister to act, is to join with the Ministry of Justice to finally put this more than 130 year old cold case homicide to closure.