Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Gauguin Did It

Everyone knows the delightful story about how Van Gogh chopped off his right ear and presented it to Rachel. (Kids: this was long before greeting cards and Evites and Facebook became popular.)

Now art historians say "Fou-Rou" did not mutilate himself. It was Paul Gauguin that wielded the razor and separated poor Vincent from his beloved ear. (Which may have led to Van Gogh writing the classic, "It was a very good ear". Okay, no more.)

Let me get this straight - Gauguin walked around with a fencing epee and lopped off his friend's ear and Van Gogh checked himself into Saint-Paul-de-Mausole?

(Via MeFi)

6 comments:

Falstaff said...

Gauguin walked around with a fencing epee and lopped off his friend's ear and Van Gogh checked himself into Saint-Paul-de-Mausole?I know, ear-ie right?

Falstaff said...

It's a classic case of ear today, Gauguin tomorrow.

km said...

Or as Paul himself said later, all you need is lobe.

km said...

Space: Even if Paul did do it, why did he choose VG's ear? Why not an easier target like a finger?

Tabula Rasa said...

i agree - this sounds cock-eyed.

km said...

TR: cock-eyed and dog-eared?