If only Vincent van Gogh had access to a time machine. The Dutch painter was ignored by critics during his life. Few bought his paintings. Fewer wanted to spend time with him. His neighbours in ArlesA city in the south of France, where van Gogh painted many of his most famous paintings. called him "the redheaded madman". Today, van Gogh is one of the most celebrated painters. And a new exhibition of his self-portraits, which opened yesterday at London's Courtauld GalleryAn art museum in London's Somerset House. It houses the art collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art and contains around 530 paintings and over 26,000 drawings. , has stunned critics.

"A landmark exhibition", chimed the Financial Times. "Magical, mysterious and electrifyingly intimate", said the Guardian. It collects 17 self-portraits from across van Gogh's short life, in a dazzling variety of styles. "The only constant", wrote The Telegraph's Alastair Sooke, "is that he never smiles".

Van Gogh is a tortured genius. He suffered from severe depression, which his contemporaries saw as madnessUntil relatively recently, many people suffering from mental illnesses were declared mad. Many were mistreated.. He was in and out of asylumsA place for the care of those who are not able to care for themselves. Until fairly recently, many people put in asylums had undiagnosed or mistreated mental illnesses. . In 1888, after a fight with fellow artist Paul GauguinAfter van Gogh cut off his own ear, Gauguin left Arles, never to see van Gogh again. The two continued to write letters to each other., he cut off his own left ear. He later died by suicide. 

Van Gogh's fame began to grow. His art has been linked to his illness. As Rachel Campbell-Johnston writes in The Times, he painted "with a force and a frankness in the belief that his work would help him to get well".

Many great artists have been stalked by demons. Leonardo da Vinci regarded himself as a failure. Edward Munch painted The Scream after a moment of oppressive anxiety. And numerous talented artists have taken their own lives, from Virginia Woolf to Sylvia Plath.

Some see this as proof that genius comes with a price. Seneca wrote: "There is no great genius without some touch of madness." The German legend Faust tells of a man who sold his soul for knowledge and power. The bluesman Robert Johnson was alleged to have done the same for his guitar prowess. Great art has to come from sacrifice or struggle.

Others point out that many geniuses lived happy lives. William Shakespeare stopped writing plays to pursue a prosperous retirement. Johann Sebastian Bach was a humble family man but produced some of the most sublimeOf the greatest excellence and beauty.  music of all time. 

There is no evidence in neuroscience of a link between genius and unhappiness. Perhaps we want to believe in a connection.

Yes: Great painters, writers and musicians possess talents that the average person can never truly understand. It is little wonder that they find it difficult to live in the mundane world of other people.

No: The people who produce works of genius are as flawed as anyone else. But genius transcends the mortals that serve as its carriers. Van Gogh was a flawed man, but his works are flawless.

Or... The World Health Organisation estimates that 350 million people suffer from depression. Many of us deal with unhappiness and mental illness. Geniuses just have more publicity.