Van Gogh, Gauguin, and The Mystery of an Ear Lobe

Posted by Meg Nola Aug 10, 2009

Earlier this year, an interesting alternate theory surfaced that Paul Gauguin might really be the one responsible for cutting off Vincent van Gogh’s ear lobe, and not Van Gogh himself. The two major Post-Impressionists had been staying together at "The Yellow House" in Arles through the late autumn/early winter of 1888, with a resulting dynamic that was somewhat artistically productive, but also often combative and intense. A well-known version of the famed story states that Van Gogh had been threatening Gauguin with a razor on December 23, 1888, and Van Gogh then cut off his own ear lobe with the razor and gave it to Rachel, a prostitute at a nearby brothel. Gauguin had told Van Gogh that he had had enough of their Arles arrangement and was leaving, and this impending departure reportedly upset Vincent and triggered his erratic, self-mutilating behavior.

This newer theory, proposed by German art historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans, suggests that Gauguin had indeed had enough of Arles, but that Van Gogh was following him through the streets trying to persuade him to stay. Gauguin eventually reacted out of frustration or anger or because Van Gogh was threatening him, and he sliced at Van Gogh’s left ear with his sword. Gauguin enjoyed fencing and was skilled at the sport, and he therefore happened to be carrying a sword along with his other luggage. Van Gogh finally subsided, gave the ear lobe to Rachel at the nearby bordello, and went back home bleeding and in semi-shock. Van Gogh never outrightly blamed his friend for the incident because he was somewhat obsessed with and dominated by Gauguin. The wound would, however, affect Van Gogh both physically and emotionally until his ultimate suicide in 1890.

Click here to read the full article on the new theory, then click here to read an argument against it. And while we can never be sure just what happened on that December 1888 night, we are sure that Van Gogh and Gauguin spent time together in Arles -- and this excerpt from the film The Yellow House brings their interaction to life.