Van Gogh is a really interesting person, however the great tragedy is that his personality often drove people away. I am not sure whether van Gogh really did have any close friends, at least for extended periods of time. His only close friend was probably Theo, and that's only because they were far away from each other. When they lived together in Paris, they got into constant conflicts. Van Gogh was a really hard character, longing for love, but always prone to quarreling. He ended up going mad, but wonder whether there wasn't something in the family, as both his brother and Theo and one of his sisters all ended up dying in mental institutions after going insane.