The relationship of the two brothers was intense, mutually entangled and dependent, ambivalent, and symbiotic. They were tied to each other by the closest bonds, and when that connection was ever threatened by circumstance, conflict, separation, or hostility, both suffered pangs of separation and abandonment. They could not live without each other, and as the events proved, they could not live with each other. But their fates were intertwined from the beginning. They were in a sense psychic twins, mutual mirrors each to the other, doubles in a profound psychic sense. For Vincent, it was his connection with Theo that preserved his life and made his artistic creativity possible. For Theo, it was his connection with his eccentric, erratic, troubled, and dependent brother that gave meaning and sustenance to his life as well. They could share an artistic vision and a fantasy of mutual involvement in the creative process that consumed them both.