‘I cannot help it that my paintings do not sell. The time will come when people will see that they are worth more than the price of the paint.’ – Vincent van Gogh

Reading Dear Theo, a translation of Van Gogh’s letters to his brother, left me feeling rather melancholic. The one moment Vincent lets you soar on his beautiful lines of original and perceptive thought. The next minute he plummets down to the valleys of financial anxiety. In almost every letter the issue of money is raised. How expensive paint is, how much rent he needs to pay, how he can’t afford to eat properly… One of the greatest modern artists died at age 37, overwhelmed by debt.

Mixing the sacred with the profane, what are the business lessons to be learned from Vincent?

A fantastic product is doomed without good marketing: Until his death shortly after Vincent’s, Theo was his brother’s sole art dealer. In one of his last letters Vincent writes about all the canvasses lying under Theo’s bed; he had sold only one. It was only when Theo’s widow, Johanna, started translating and distributing Vincent’s letters that people began to notice his art. The letters brought the paintings to life.

Being different is difficult, but it’s the only way to create a memorable brand: When Vincent started using the impasto technique (applying oil paint very thickly, often straight out of a tube), his paintings were criticised for being too crude and unfinished. Now, 120 years later, a Van Gogh from this era (the last four years of his life) is instantly recognisable.

It’s lonely at the front – make friends: The Impressionists had a liberating influence on Van Gogh. Their love of working in the outdoors, use of broad brush strokes and primary colours and the almost ‘unfinished’ result gave him permission to follow his own style. He sounded much more confident and up-beat after meeting like-minded artists in Paris. He began to see himself as someone who is paving the way for future artists who want to break out of the traditional mould.

Find the kind of work that drives you sane: Vincent was completely puzzled by the idleness of his fellow patients at the Saint Rémy mental hospital. He noticed that painting was the only thing that could lift his spirits and focus his mind after each attack. So much so that a few people there did not believe that he was ill.

If he was still alive, Vincent would probably have thrown a glass of absinthe at me by now. He never painted to make money. He painted because he couldn’t imagine spending his time in any other way. In fact, he was terrified of success. In one of his letters, he even compared success with a glow worm through which Brazilian ladies stick a pin so they can wear the beauty in their hair.

Vincent, despite your ambivalent feelings about success, your paintings are selling.