In honour of its subject, an upcoming feature-length animated film about Vincent van Gogh will tell its story using oil paintings - 54.600 of them, to be precise.

Entitled Loving Vincent, the film is a murder mystery about the life and death of van Gogh told through interviews with the characters from van Gogh's own paintings.

Though it is often assumed that van Gogh committed suicide, some claim otherwise, and the circumstances surrounding van Gogh's death remain uncertain.

The film is being made by Breakthru films, a Poland-based studio best known for its Oscar-winning 2006 animated short, Peter & the Wolf.

Loving Vincent is slated for release in 2015, and is currently in pre-production. Watch a trailer for the film below.