Does anybody really know why Vincent Van Gogh chopped off his ear?

[Deja Q]

I can't speak for all men, but I myself got pretty crazy upon looking at all the shiny new hairs sprouting from an ear I once thought would remain nice and bald... :eyes:

[bmbmd]

1. When no hope was left inside

on that starry, starry night
He took his ear, as lovers often do.

[Random_Australian]

20. Wow, that is the most obscure reference I think I've ever picked up on.

[Haole Girl]

2. Heard it was a girl

love can make a man (or woman) do really crazy things.

Or, possibly, it was due to insanity? :shrug:

[SPKrazy]

3. Many people think it was a self mutilation thing

but it was probably a "cutting" thing where he cut to get a "high" so to speak...

[Zookeeper]

4. One answer:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/20527

To be precise, it was the lobe of his left ear which he put into an
envelope and gave to a brothel wench named Rachel with
these words: "Guard this object carefully." After he tried to
drink a quart of turpentine in his studio, he was sent to the
asylum at Saint-Remy on May 7, 1889. The doctors began to
treat him with hydrotherapy for acute mania and epilepsy. A
precise diagnosis of Van Gogh's illness is still unavailable,
despite hundreds of conjectures. We do know a few facts:
Van Gogh suffered from syphilis contracted from prostitutes
off the docks at Antwerp; there was also a history of mental
illness in his family. Some physicians now believe Van Gogh
may have had a congenital brain lesion that was aggravated by
absinthe.

[SPKrazy]

6. good find!

hey, do you have wonder woman's invisible jet too zookeeper?

if so i have a mission to use it on... :rofl:

[Zookeeper]

10. Man, I wish I had an invisible jet!

I could drive people crazier than Van Gogh with that (specifically, certain Rethugs). :evilgrin:

But, I want to hear about this mission you have in mind!


:smoke:

[SPKrazy]

14. Shhhhhhh!

don't let the department of homeland security hear you...:evilgrin:

it's a rescue mission to the Czech Republic...

but we have to fly in under the radar or in an invisible plane... so we can rescue someone that has been separated from her other half of herself :silly: it's her "mirror image" and we have to get it back...

:crazy:

are ya game?

:rofl:

we could use the help, and I think you must be wonder woman 'cause of your avvie!

[Zookeeper]

15. Sweetie....

I have no idea what you're talking about!

But, Wonder Woman will do anything she can to help... :hi:

:rofl:

:patriot:

[SPKrazy]

16. Oh good!

here's the secret... I don't know either :rofl:

wonder woman to the rescue!

:rofl:

:hug:

[Shell Beau]

5. Having sold only one painting....

Crazy, eh?

[MrSlayer]

7. Well yeah, he was fucking crazy.

No sane person does things like that.

[otherlander]

9. So if we cure all the crazy people...

who will make art?

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Zookeeper]

13. Actually, Gauguin made Vincent look like a saint...

Gauguin deserted his wife and kids and moved to Tahiti, where he mooched off of the natives and happily spread syphilis to the young native women he took as mistresses.

He's the one I would have slapped. (Hard.)

Unfortunately, being a great artist doesn't always equal being a good human being. :(

[Robeson]

11. Nope. Only he was inside his own head....

...so I have no idea.

[RushIsRot]

12. Eh? Say what? Would you be so kind as to speak to my

other side?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

17. He wanted to silence the voices screaming in his head

And there was no volume switch.

[ironflange]

18. Banana Issue! What? Banana Issue! What? Banana Issue! What?

[ashling]

19. Tinitus

I've got this damned ringing in my ears all the time. Sometimes it is more noticible than at other times. I can remember a period when it was so bad that I had thoughts of jamming an icepick in my ear to stop it.

[Random_Australian]

21. Well, self harm is a powerful coping mechanism.

[Deja Q]

22. Ironic. I understand and have utilized that concept myself,

but never fathomed mutilation to THAT extent.

[peekaloo]

23. He wanted to mess with Kyle MacLachlan (sp) ?

:shrug:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

24. Wasn't he obsessed with some woman, and thought it was a powerful gesture...

to mail it to her? :shrug:
Duckie

[GenDem]

25. I've read that the catalyst was a fight with Gauguin

They were good friends and often painted together, which sometimes resulted in arguments about painting styles. During a heated exchange, Van Gogh went after Gauguin with a razor -- stopping himself before he did any harm. He felt such deep remorse and self hatred for attacking his friend that he whacked off part of his earlobe.



This is his last painting before he killed himself.
I've always thought that the crows were significant.