On the night of December 23, 1888, Vincent van Gogh entered the brothel house on the rue Bou d'Arles and handed one of the girls a bloody parcel with a piece of his own ear … This story is the most popular parable about a genius psycho. But was Van Gogh really insane?
The personality of Van Gogh is surrounded by legends that hardly correspond to reality. The master's life was prosaic. He was born into a wealthy family, received an excellent education, spoke three languages. His father served as a priest, three uncles successfully traded in works of art, and the fourth, in the rank of admiral, was in charge of the port.
Myths and reality
The main creator of the legends about Van Gogh is considered the German gallery owner Julius Meyer-Graeff, who, having taken up the paintings of the great Dutchman, quickly appreciated their potential and thought about advertising. Possessing a lively pen, Meyer-Graefe decided to write an attractive biography of the artist for collectors. He did not find the master alive, so he wrote, mixing the truth with a convenient fiction.
Van Gogh really began to paint too late, by the age of 30, but this was not a miracle, not an inspiration, but a balanced, deliberate step. Having abandoned the career of a priest, Vincent really took up painting, but by no means spontaneously. Before devoting himself to painting, he worked for seven years as an art dealer for the large art and trade firm Goupil & Cie, where he became an expert in the field of art.
It was from this position that Van Gogh began his career in painting. Contrary to another legend, he was not at all a genius dilettante, but had a fundamental education in art history and theory, and besides, he had practical experience in selling paintings. At the age of 27, he began a systematic study of the subject, starting with drawing according to the most modern textbooks, and even studied for some time at two art academies.
In 1886, on the advice of his younger brother Theo, Vincent moved to Paris and entered the studio of Fernand Cormon. In Paris, the excellent businessman Theo brought him together with Pissarro, Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, Renoir, Degas, with rising stars like Signac and Gauguin. He also persuaded his older brother to take up post-impressionism, which was becoming fashionable.
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The poverty of the artist Van Gogh is also, to put it mildly, an exaggeration. Back in 1884, he signed an agreement with his brother: in exchange for paintings, Theo undertook to supply him with canvases, paints, and other materials and to pay 220 francs monthly.
Equally reliable is the "non-recognition" of Vincent, who allegedly sold only one work. Theo regularly arranged exhibitions for his brother, where his paintings sold well, and the notorious "only" painting - "Red Vineyards in Arles" - was bought for 400 francs, which meant a breakthrough into the world of serious prices.
Added colors?
The cornerstone of the biography written by Meyer-Graeff was, of course, the madness of the great draftsman, and it also became the cherry on the cake. In fact, the artist suffered from seizures and bouts of depression only in the last years of his life. Doctors diagnosed not congenital abnormalities, but the consequences of frequent use of absinthe.
However, the biographer Meyer-Graefe had a story with an ear left in store.
In 1888, Van Gogh moved to the south of France and persuaded Paul Gauguin to move to him in the town of Arles. Van Gogh, a fierce and addictive nature, was literally in love with his exotic friend who had seen the world, but his friends could not live under one roof. Disputes and quarrels arose for any reason. Two months later, Gauguin decided to leave. It is believed that after another conflict in a schizophrenic attack, Vincent cut off a piece of his ear with a razor, and then took it to a prostitute.
German historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans, having studied the facts and records of police archives, put forward their version of the incident.
A duel took place between friends. During the fight, Gauguin - a good swordsman and a former sailor who knows how to stand up for himself - cut off a piece of Van Gogh's ear. It seems that after that, coming to their senses and stopping the blood a little, the friends agreed to hush up the matter. Vincent, who did not want to hand over the police officer, said that he inflicted a wound on himself. Gauguin confirmed. Thereafter, both of them remained silent. Although one of Van Gogh's sketches depicts an ear, and next to it is the Latin word ictus, this is how fencers call one of the blows.
The story with the ear tragically influenced the creator of "Sunflowers". He plunged into depression, was treated, and two years later committed suicide. Or fell victim to an accident? This is another mystery, but if the second is true, then the genius of the brush died, again without naming the person who wounded him.
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 35. Author: Evgeny Zimin