Ear Today, Gone Tomorrow: Van Gogh’s Guide to Artistic Failure

THIS IS HISTORY — A DYNASTY TO DIE FOR

Sony Music

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you’re an artist, when would you like recognition to strike? Do you want it to be in your lifetime, only to be forgotten decades after your death? Or do you want to remain undiscovered, with your story potentially echoing for centuries after you’ve been discovered posthumously? These are some of the thorny questions Dan and Elizabeth consider in this episode about artistic failure. Together, they trace the stories of artists whose lives don’t neatly match up with the reputations their works have gathered: French writer George Sand, and the painters Vincent Van Gogh, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Each artist presents a differing experience of the kaleidoscope that is artistic failure: Van Gogh and Gentileschi suffered great personal anguish yet have given the world canonical paintings, while Sand was one of the most popular novelists of the 19th century – only to be cast out of the canon in the next century. So what would you rather: Acclaim now, or acclaim posthumously? – As always, Dan’s royal favourites can chime in anytime on the royal court on Patreon at patreon.com/thisishistory. And don’t forget to listen to this season’s accompanying bonus episodes for this miniseries, where Dan and Producer Al are dissecting the biggest historical failures as submitted by the royal favourites. In this episode, they discuss a potential research fail about Battle of Hastings, what happens when failure is lost in translation, and what American Reconstruction can teach us about historical failure. – A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices –– Presented by Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day Producer - Alan Weedon Senior Producer - Dominic Tyerman Researcher - Phoebe Joyce Executive Producer - Louisa Field Executive Producer - Dan Jones Executive Producer for Daylight Productions - Elizabeth Day Production Manager - Jen Mistri Production Coordinator - Eric Ryan Head of content - Chris Skinner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So we're talking about artistic failure this week, Dan.
0:03.9	Yeah.
0:04.5	Do you consider yourself a work of art?
0:07.5	It's not for me to say.
0:09.0	This would be for others to make that decision.
0:12.3	I mean, I've had my portrait painted, once or twice a while.
0:15.3	You must have had your portrait painted.
0:17.3	I have. Yes.
0:17.7	Have you?
0:18.5	Who painted yours?
0:19.4	The first time I ever had my portrait painted, it never
0:21.8	got completed because I was gifted it by my ex-husband, but it took so long that by the time
0:28.7	we'd got divorced, the portrait still wasn't completed. So I've never seen what happened to it. And one
0:35.2	was Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, which is the most
0:37.5	incredible experience. Have you done that, Dan? Not yet, but I imagine it'll come along.
0:42.5	It's a matter of time. But it's this really special experience where you sit for four hours.
0:48.9	And some people listen to music, but you obviously can't read anything unless you're willing
0:53.5	to stick to
0:54.9	that pose. And I decided just to sit with nothing, and it was actually very meditative,
0:59.7	and three artists drew or painted or etched my portrait, and then you get to choose your favorite
1:06.8	one. And the favorite one that I chose was by this terrific artist called Morag Kaster,
1:12.6	who then went on to win the whole thing and now has a portrait of Lenny Henry hanging in the National Portrait Gallery.
	...

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