Art students have long been taught that Vincent van Gogh committed suicide. But a new book suggests that the famous painter was, in fact, murdered. Van Gogh: The Life, by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, suggests that van Gogh was shot by 16-year-old Rene Secretan, who knew van Gogh and sometimes teased him. According to the accepted story, van Gogh shot himself in a field and then walked a mile back to the inn where he was staying, where he eventually died. However, no painting materials or gun were ever found in the field where he said he was working.