December 23 - Vincent van Gogh's Ear

This Day in History: 23 December 2019

 

23 December 1888

 

131 years ago, today, Painter Vincent van Gogh cut off his left ear while suffering from severe depression, in Arles, France. He would later document this in the painting 'Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear'. Van Gogh was born Dutch and had a nervous personality as he worked unsuccessfully at an art gallery, and then as a preacher. When he was 27, he began his artistic career, and one work from this period, 'The Potato Eaters' reflects his melancholic experiences with the peasants and the miners. In 1886, he moved to Paris to be with his younger brother, Theo, an art dealer who supported his brother with finance and with introductions to many other artists that, over time, would influence van Gogh's own art style by using more colour.

 

In 1888, he rented a house in Arles to be less of a burden on his brother and hoped to start an artists' colony. Here, van Gogh painted vivid scenes of the countryside and still-life's, shown by his famous sunflower series. Artist Paul Gauguin came to stay with him for a while, and the two began to work together, although tensions started to develop. On this day, van Gogh threatened Gauguin with a knife in a spiral of dementia but turned it on himself and cut off his ear lobe. Supposedly, afterwards, he wrapped up the ear and handed it to a prostitute nearby, and was hospitalised, and checked into a mental institution for a year. But, while he was there, he varied between spurs of madness and creativity, producing some of his best works. In 1890, van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise and was plagued by despair and loneliness, causing him to shoot himself only two months later, and died shortly after, at the age of 37. Nowadays, van Gogh is seen by many as an artistic genius, and his masterpieces are practically priceless, but when he was alive, he only sold one painting and was constantly faced with mental and psychological difficulty.

 

Want to find out more about one of the most famous painters, Vincent van Gogh's, life? Clickhere for more details.