Oaxaca de Juarez, 6 November. Do you love? What jealousy? Do you rage? Without a doubt, the case of the ear of Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) is the act’s most famous self-mutilation of the history of art. However, more than a century later, the reason that led the painter to undergo such punishment remains an enigma. Theories are not lacking: sample of a genius tortured, evidence of his mental illness, or even the result of a fight with his French colleague Paul Gauguin.
all in all, the art historian Martin Bailey, dismissed the credibility of all of them, and says now that Van Gogh acted in this way to learn of the engagement of his brother Theo. The fear of being alone, without money, and, in short, without the support of the man he was allowing to devote his life to the paintings was what brought the Dutch to cut off the ear on 23 December 1888. Bailey came to this conclusion after gathering letters previously unpublished of the time, and now argues his hypothesis in a book that will come to light Thursday in Great Britain under the title Studio of the South, Van Gogh in Provence.
Until now, various scholars had assumed that the painter knew the commitment of his brother when the latter was visiting in the hospital where he was recovering precisely wound in his head. Injuries that were attributed to the discussion with Gauguin. In fact, the website of the Van Gogh Museum explains that this “cut off his ear following a quarrel with Paul Gauguin, an artist with whom he had been working for a time in Arles”.
Bad news for Paris. "I think that the trigger of the self-mutilation has been largely overlooked," writes now the expert. "A few hours before that Van Gogh cut off the ear, she received a letter from Paris. The letter brought news that his brother had known Johanna (Jo) Bonger, a young man in the netherlands who was visiting the French capital. A few days later, they had decided to get married", he says. The expert stresses that "Vincent feared then to lose to Theo, his closest companion". "I was really worried. We invaded the anguish before the possibility that your brother could withdraw the financial support that had allowed him to dedicate his life to art, because in the end, focus now on forming your own family", is discussed in the new book.
The author adds: "If Van Gogh would have felt elated by the commitment, it is virtually inconceivable that they would have cut off part of his ear after a few hours of receiving the news of Theo, whatever other difficulties they face, even his impaired relationship with Gauguin". "The commitment may not have been the primary cause, but the one that triggered this unwholesome act," he adds. The letters between members of the family of the genius, which are in the archives of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, show that he received a letter to Theo about his financial subsidy on the 23rd of December. The content of that letter is unknown in its details. But the book sheds light on the mystery by explaining that the older brother of Jo Bonger, Henry, received a mail on the same day that contained news about the commitment of Jo and Theo.
death lurks. Theo and Jo had been committed only a week after this meeting, marrying, then on the 18th of April, 1889. Theo died of syphilis two years later, just six months after his brother. The most fruitful and tempestuous relationship of the brothers is contained in one of the maps most famous of the history of art, Letters to Theo.
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