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It Was Gauguin Who Cut Off van Gogh's Ear

Historians say Dutch painter loss his ear in a fight

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted May 5, 2009 8:26 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Vincent van Gogh's fame derives not only from his paintings, but from the legendary story that he sliced off his own ear and presented it to a prostitute. But two art historians now say that the Dutch painter didn't mutilate himself. After a decade of research, they argue that Paul Gauguin, van Gogh's friend and colleague, lopped off his ear with a fencing sword during a fight, the Guardian reports.

A new book by the two historians, published in Germany, claims that the self-mutilation story is inconsistent and that both artists hinted at the real truth. Curators at the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam aren't convinced by the new theory, but the scholars point to a passage in a letter from the artist to his brother Theo: "Luckily Gauguin is not yet armed with machine guns and other dangerous war weapons."

A visitor looks at Vincent van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with Japanese Print' (1887), pictured in the art museum of Basel, Switzerland, Thursday, April 23, 2009.
A visitor looks at Vincent van Gogh's 'Self-Portrait with Japanese Print' (1887), pictured in the art museum of Basel, Switzerland, Thursday, April 23, 2009.   (AP Photo/Keystone, Georgios Kefalas)
A visitor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art photographs the back side of a Vincent van Gogh self-portrait, Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in New York.
A visitor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art photographs the back side of a Vincent van Gogh self-portrait, Tuesday, March 31, 2009, in New York.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
'The Starry Night' by Vincent van Gogh, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
'The Starry Night' by Vincent van Gogh, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.   (AP Photo/Museum of Modern Art)
Vincent van Gogh's 1887 'Self-Portrait: Three Quarters to the Right.'
Vincent van Gogh's 1887 'Self-Portrait: Three Quarters to the Right.'   (AP Photo/The Morgan Library & Museum)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
Derni
May 5, 2009 1:28 AM CDT
So there's a fine line between love and hate-Friends?

Many historians are doubtful of the new hypothesis
Telegraph (UK)

 
art • violence • history • Vincent Van Gogh • fencing • Paul Gauguin

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