Why Van Gogh cut off his ear and other curious facts about an eccentric genius with a tragic fate

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

March 30 marks the 167th anniversary of the birth of Vincent Van Gogh - the most eccentric, genius Dutch artist with a tragic fate. He is recognized as one of the most famous and influential artists of all time. And yet he suffered from obscurity and poverty throughout his short life. The most interesting facts about the personality and work of the artist are hidden in his canvases.

Vincent Van Gogh was born into an upper middle class religious family in the village of Groot-Zundert, Holland, on March 30, 1853. After a long mental search, study and travel, he began to paint without formal training. His stunning depictions of landscapes, still lifes, portraits and sketches, with their vibrant colors and subjective perspective, revolutionized the way the art world is perceived. He fought depression and mental illness while creating an immersive universe of imagery. The life and career of Van Gogh is a stormy journey of an eternally conflicting and genius soul.

1. The happiest time Van Gogh spent in London

In 1873, Vincent traveled to the British capital to work for art dealer Goupil and C. He previously worked for them in The Hague. It was the happiest time of his life. He made good money and even fell in love with the daughter of his mistress, Eugene Loyer. But she rejected his feelings, as she was engaged. He later moved to Paris.

2. He created a new masterpiece every 36 hours

Despite only working for 10 years - from 27 to his early demise at 37 - Van Gogh was incredibly prolific. Over the years, Vincent Van Gogh created more than 2 thousand works, of which about 860 are oil paintings, and many more drawings and sketches. He spent only 36 hours on each job.

3. He painted over 30 self-portraits

What do Van Gogh have in common with his great predecessor, the Dutch artist Rembrandt Van Rijn? That's right - both of them have written a huge number of self-portraits, more than any of the other great artists. Unknown and poor, Van Gogh did not have the means to pay for the work of the model, so he had to paint his self-portraits. Van Gogh painted over 30 self-portraits. Written at different times of work, they allow you to evaluate all the transformations of the soul and creativity of Van Gogh. In addition, to save materials, Van Gogh often painted new paintings on top of old ones. I wonder how many masterpieces are kept by the famous paintings of Van Gogh?

4. He sold only one of his paintings

During his lifetime, Van Gogh was never famous as an artist and constantly struggled with poverty. While he was alive, he sold only one painting: The Red Vineyard, which Van Gogh sold for 400 francs just seven months before his death. His most expensive painting, Portrait of Dr. Gachet, was sold in 1990 for $ 148.6 million. According to estimates from auctions and private sales, Van Gogh's works, along with those of Pablo Picasso, are among the first on the list of the most expensive paintings in the world.

5. Legend of the severed ear

One of the most famous legends about the life of Van Gogh concerns the story of the severed ear. In fact, only a lobe of the ear (lobe) was cut off. This happened in Arles on Christmas Day 1888. A heated argument with Gauguin drove Van Gogh into such madness that he grabbed a razor and mutilated his ear. In some versions of the story, he took the dismembered earlobe to a local brothel, where he offered it as a gift to a girl. Another version says that in fact it was Gauguin who chopped off his friend's earlobe during fencing, and they invented a story with a dispute in order to avoid arrest. How the situation was in reality - for sure, it will remain a mystery. It is very significant that Van Gogh immortalized his wound in one of his self-portraits.

6. He was mentally ill

After the incident with the cut ear, Van Gogh was admitted to the nearby Hôtel-Dieu hospital. As soon as he recovered from his enormous blood loss, he was discharged. Unfortunately, after that, he fell into a deep depression. The artist was forced to spend nights in the hospital, and during the day he painted pictures. The painter used paint not only for its intended purpose: in letters to his brother, Theo Van Gogh admitted that he loved to collect the remains of paint after completing the work and eat them. This addiction played a cruel joke with the painter: the paints contained lead, which, even in small quantities, can cause irreparable harm to a person's mental health.

7. He wrote his most famous work in a hospital for the mentally ill.

Starry Night, perhaps his most famous work, was written in a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. He voluntarily admitted that he had come there to recover from a nervous breakdown in 1888. The painting shows the view from his bedroom window. Curious: astronomical calculations showed that the configuration of the starry sky on June 19, 1889 roughly coincides with the vision of Van Gogh. It is not for nothing that in letters to his brother Theo Van Gogh called this painting a sketch. And this is true. The artist depicted the landscape from nature.

8. The world learned about Van Gogh thanks to his daughter-in-law

Much of Van Gogh's posthumous success can be attributed to his daughter-in-law Johanna, the wife of his brother Theo, who devoted herself to popularizing his legacy after the artist's death. Most of Van Gogh's work was lost, as many people considered his work useless. Rumor has it that even his own mother got rid of the boxes full of her son's paintings.

9. Van Gogh was a missionary

For Vincent, who enthusiastically read "On the Imitation of Christ," to become a servant of the Lord meant first of all to devote oneself to a specific service to his neighbor, in full accordance with the gospel tenets. And his joy was great when in 1879 he managed to get a missionary position in the coal mining region of Belgium. During this time, he experienced a spiritual awakening that inspired him to give up all his worldly possessions and start living like a beggar. The church authorities considered that this was inappropriate for the representative of the church, and he was removed from office.

10. He had no education

In 1880, Vincent entered the Academy of Arts in Brussels. However, due to his irreconcilable nature, he very soon abandons her and continues his art education as a self-taught, using reproductions and regularly drawing.

11. He wrote over 800 letters

Few of the artists, taking up the pen, left us their observations, diaries, letters, the meaning of which would be comparable to what they did in the field of painting. In addition to being self-taught, Van Gogh was also a talented author. Vincent wrote almost as many letters as he wrote paintings (about 800 hits, mostly to his brother Theo). Van Gogh and Theo were connected not only by blood relationship, but also by a real spiritual closeness. After the death of Vincent, Theo tried in vain to organize a posthumous exhibition of the artist's works, but could not survive the loss of his beloved brother: literally six months later, Theo overtook a mental breakdown, and he died soon after.

12. Van Gogh died with the words "Sadness will last forever"

On July 27, 1890, Van Gogh shot himself in the stomach with a revolver in the middle of a field. He managed to reach the house and go upstairs to his room. He died two days after the incident. He spent the last minutes with his brother Theo, who heard his last words: "The sorrow will last forever."

In continuation of the story about the famous artist, facts about the painting "Bedroom in Arles", written in front of the insane asylum,