Both bridged transitional periods in art and their productions are to this day considered remarkable and inimitable, as they cannot be pigeonholed in a set movement or genre. In their own unique way, they were virtuosi who simultaneously mastered technique and sentimentality.
Interestingly, the two of them had to cope with physical pain and malfunctions of what happened to be their work tools - Beethoven, a musician, gradually became deaf, while Van Gogh, a painter, is said to have had astigmatism.
The dark of the night is home for the misfits of our world...