ear ear (again)

who could not help being a bit distressed at a gory item wrapped in newspaper ...not a gift of love that I think anyone would like to have to accept? poor rachel!

just had a massive argument with some fellow artists about the Kaufmann claim that gaugain cut off van gogh's ear ...it wasn't about the ear abd who did it, over who and why? so much as what was the deeper disturbance between the two artists. Van gogh insisting (quiet rightly) that art needs to be grounded in what we see ...landscapes need to be painted in plein air ...while gaugain insisted (maybe just to rattle van gogh) that it was the artist imagination that made the picture ... the artist just needed to be inspired ...and then his mind could do the rest ...it was me against everyone, the rest of the world maybe ...but i was adamant that your need to have the visual reference ...studies from life ...that what makes for a great nude ... then I was called a hypocrite and deluded ...you see I often sketch from photos or direct from the computer screen ...but isn't that also a visual reference ...ok I know I'm outnumbered, but i still think vincent was onto something.

ear ear

The theory that Gaugain was the one that actually cutoff Van Gogh's Ear is quite believable. Gaugain was skilled at fencing and the pair were quarreling a lot and had basically fallen out at the time of the incident. However there does seem a lot of sensationalism, for example, the speculation that they were fighting over a prostitute, would they really make a secret pact to keep the incident quiet, how secret can you keep it when you give your ear away? And wrapped up like a gift? How many destitute artists carried swords at night in 1888? the other medical issues poor Vincent suffered. All a bit too conspiracy theory-ish for me in the end.

"Near the brothel, about 300 metres from the Yellow House, there was a final encounter between them: Vincent might have attacked him, Gauguin wanted to defend himself and to get rid of this 'madman'. He drew his weapon, made some movement in the direction of Vincent and by that cut off his left ear." Kaufmann said it was not clear if it was an accident or an aimed hit.