Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh's Ear

After long period of constant invitations Gauguin finally arrived to Arles in October of 1888. The two worked together throughout the end of October, the whole November and the part of December. Gauguin painted "The Painter of Sunflowers: The Portrait of Van Gogh", Van Gogh painted "Van Gogh's chair" and "Gauguin's chair", they exercised collective painting and discussed art. Or more correctly, the argued and fighted fiercely about art - Christmas and New Year were coming and bringing the end of two troubled geniuses' relationship along with them. The crisis peaked on 23rd of December, 1888.

By that time van Gogh's mental health - due to his lifestyle - had already been deteriorating: he was subject to frequent bouts of depression and melancholy caused by some metabolic disease. At that night he suffered from one of these strengthened by fear that Gauguin was going to leave him for good. According to official version, at that night van Gogh either experienced a tremendous mental breakdown or was heavily poisoned by evaporations from leaden paints. The information of the events followed was gathered from one exclusive source - Gauguin.

According to one version, related by the first modern primitivist in his memoirs "Before and After" written in Tahiti at the end of the century, he was making his way through place Victor-Hugo when he heard familiar quick and nervous steps behind him. He turned around and saw van Gogh running on him with a razor blade in his hand. He looked at van Gogh, and the latter suddenly turned and ran away, because Gauguin's look "must have been very powerful".

After that van Gogh got back to the Yellow house and cut off his whole left ear (according to one part of testimonies), or the lower part of his left earlobe (according to another part of testimonies). Having washed his ear, wrapped the severed tissue into a newspaper and covered his head with tall beret (or some other headgear) he went to the brothel №1 (as was stated the local newspaper "Le Forum Republicain"), requested a prostitute named Rachel and passed her his parcel with words

"Keep this object carefully" (these words are reproduced in every account concerning the episode), went back to the Yellow house and went to a blood-drenched bed. Later van Gogh was put in the hospital, was discharged in January but due to his constant delusions and hallucinations was under the permanent supervision of Dr. Rey of the Arles hospital. In June of 1889 he committed himself to

the psychiatric asylym situated in the town of Saint-Remy-de-Provence, 32 km from Arles. Paul Gauguin went to Paris and had never seen van Gogh in his life - despite van Gogh's request to visit him in the hospital.

Paul Gauguin's account doesn't seem very reliable. Actually there were at least two of them, first being told to painter Emile Bernard immediately after return from Paris, the one that reveals some details of the decline of their relationship, dreadful description of the aftermath of van Gogh's self-harm and slightly different description of the central episode of the night. Van Gogh ran after Gauguin (he had walked out of the house) and told him: "You're silent, but I shall be so too". Gauguin went to the hotel and van Gogh returned to the Yellow house.

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Vincent Van Gogh's Ear

A Tribute to Vincent Van Gogh