1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,080 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,440 Speaker 1: a show that strives to know at least a little 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: bit more about history every day. I'm Gabelusier, and in 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: this episode we're talking about a strange incident in the 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: often tragic life of Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. The 7 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: topic hinges on an instance of self harm, which some 8 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: listeners may find disturbing. If that's you, maybe give this 9 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: episode a pass or circle back when you feel better prepared. 10 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: The day was December, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh mu 11 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: delated his own left ear with a razor blade while 12 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: living in Oral, France. The most widely accepted account is 13 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: that Van Gogh experienced a manic episode after getting in 14 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: an argument with his fellow artist and housemate, Paul go Gone. 15 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: Historians have discussed the nature of Van Gogh's unstable mental 16 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: health for over a century, but with little evidence to 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: go on, they haven't come to a firm conclusion. What 18 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: we know for certain is that the artist wrestled with 19 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: severe depression, that he consumed paint and other chemicals, and 20 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 1: that he sometimes saw and heard things that weren't really there. Today, 21 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,839 Speaker 1: Vincent Willem van Gogh is one of the most popular 22 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: artists of all time, and his paintings, now worth millions, 23 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: are on display at the finest museums throughout the world. Unfortunately, 24 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: as is often the case, the artist never saw any 25 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: of that success. In his lifetime. He sold very few 26 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,559 Speaker 1: of his works and largely depended on his younger brother 27 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: Theo for financial support. Van go decided to be an 28 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: artist in eighteen eighty at the age of twenty seven. 29 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: Prior to that, he had worked as an art dealer 30 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,239 Speaker 1: for a gallery and as a preacher ministering to impoverish 31 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: miners in Belgium. In eighteen eighty one, he received painting 32 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: and drawing lessons from his uncle and accomplished artist named 33 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: Anton Mauve. Van Gogh's early work drew inspiration from his 34 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: experiences with the peasant families he had met in the 35 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: mining village. As a result, the paintings from this period 36 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: tend to be darker toned and more somber than the bright, 37 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: vivid scenes that appear in his most famous works. In 38 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty six, Van Gogh moved to Paris, where he 39 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: began developing his well known style. The hectic life of 40 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: a modern city inspired the artist to experiment with bright 41 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: colors and short brush strokes, as well as more upbeat 42 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 1: subjects like cafes and floral still lifes. Artistically, van Gogh 43 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: was making great strides, but financially he remained dependent on 44 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: his brother Theo, who worked in Paris as the manager 45 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: of an art gallery. After two years there, the bustle 46 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 1: of city life and its expense got to be too 47 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: much for Van Gogh. He longed for a change of scenery, 48 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: so in February of eight he boarded a train and 49 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: traveled to Arl, a small town in the south of France. 50 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: Van Gogh rented several rooms in a big yellow house 51 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 1: and quickly fell in love with his new surroundings. He 52 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: painted scenes of the countryside, like blossoming orchards and field 53 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: workers gathering the harvest, as well as vibrants still lives, 54 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: including his famous sunflower series. His style became lighter and 55 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: more expressive, a drastic change from the somber tones of 56 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: his early work. Life and Arl not only improved Van 57 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: Gogh's productivity, but his ambition as well. He wrote to 58 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: Theo about his desire to establish what he called a 59 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: studio of the South. The idea was basically to set 60 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,160 Speaker 1: up an artist's colony in Arl, where he and others 61 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: could live and produce work for THEO to sell in Paris. 62 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: THEO was supportive of his brother's idea and even arranged 63 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: for Paul Gogan to travel to Orl as a kind 64 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: of test run for the colony. Gogan arrived in late 65 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: October of and things started out pretty well. He and 66 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: Van Gogh worked enthusiastically and even painted each other's portraits. Still, 67 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,679 Speaker 1: the men had very different views on art, which often 68 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: led to heated arguments. The growing tension came to a 69 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: head on December twenty three, when Van Gogh threatened his 70 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: friend with a razor before ultimately turning it on himself. 71 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: The facts of the ear incident have become muddled over time. 72 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: Alternate accounts exist for virtually every detail of the story, 73 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: including why van got chopped off his ear in the 74 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: first place, how much of it he actually chopped off, 75 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: and what he did with it afterward. Let's take those 76 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: one at a time, starting with the artist's motive. Most 77 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: accounts suggest Van Gogh's mania was triggered by Paul Gogan 78 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: threatening to leave the house in Arle. However, some Van 79 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: go experts have recently suggested that the artist took a 80 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: razor to his ear after learning that his brother, THEO, 81 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: had gotten engaged. The presumption is that Van Gogh would 82 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: have felt threatened by his brother's relationship. Perhaps fearing and 83 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: marriage would leave THEO with less time, energy, and money 84 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: to devote to Van Gogh's projects. Historians previously thought that 85 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: the artist only learned of the marriage after he cut 86 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: his ear. However, new evidence suggests that he actually heard 87 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:19,760 Speaker 1: the news on the same day that he fought with 88 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: Gogan and then mutilated his ear. According to author and 89 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: Van Gogh's specialist Martin Bailey, quote, it was fear that 90 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: pulled the trigger and led to the breakdown, fear of 91 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: being abandoned in both an emotional and financial way. As 92 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: for the severity of the wound, some say just the 93 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: lower ear lobe was severed, while others insisted was almost 94 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 1: the entire appendage. Van Gogh later documented the ordeal and 95 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: a pair of self portraits, but in both of them 96 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,600 Speaker 1: his ear is bandaged, so it's hard to tell how 97 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: much is missing. Other evidence is just as ambiguous. For instance, 98 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: a letter written by the doctor who first treated the 99 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: wound contained a sketch showing the ear had been completely detached. However, 100 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: a different doctor who tended to Van go two years 101 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: later also made a sketch of the ear, and his 102 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: showed that just the ear lobe had been severed. Why 103 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: the medical drawings are so different is one of the 104 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: many mysteries that still surrounds the event. Lastly, let's look 105 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: at what happened to the ear itself. According to early reports, 106 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: later that evening, Van go wrapped his severed ear in newspaper, 107 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: walked to a brothel in the nearby red light district, 108 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: and presented it to a sex worker named Rachel. Remarkably, 109 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: the only part of that story that's been questioned is 110 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: the name and occupation of the poor girl who got 111 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: stuck with the ear. According to research by Bernadette Murphy, 112 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: another author and Van go scholar, the unlucky recipient was 113 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: actually an eighteen year old girl named Gabrielle Burlatier who 114 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: worked at the brothel as a maid. Murphy also found 115 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: evidence that the girl worked a second job at a 116 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: cafe where Van Gogh frequently hung out. This suggests that 117 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: he didn't give her his ear by chance, though any 118 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 1: intended significance, as well as what she did with it, 119 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: remain unknown. The morning after the incident, van Gogh was 120 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: admitted to the local hospital, where he remained for about 121 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: two weeks. When he was discharged in January of eighteen 122 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: eighty nine, the artist had little recollection of cutting his ear. 123 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: He resumed painting, but in the months that followed his 124 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: mood fluctuated wildly. Fearing another mental crisis, van Gogh decided 125 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: to voluntarily admit himself to a psychiatric hospital in May. 126 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: He continued painting throughout his one year stay, and despite 127 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: his illness, he produced some of his most famous works 128 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: during this time, including Irises and Starry Night. In May 129 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: of eighteen ninety, van Gogh left the mental hospital and 130 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: moved to an artist's village near Paris. He found peace 131 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: there for a time, but by mid July his illness 132 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: and concern for the future became too much for him 133 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: to bear. On July, he shot himself in a wheat 134 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: field and died two days later at the age of 135 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: thirty seven. The artists left behind a large body of work, 136 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: more than eight hundred and fifty paintings and nearly thirteen 137 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: hundred drawings. His genius was recognized posthumously, and today he's 138 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: remembered not only as the troubled man who cut off 139 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: his ear, but as one of the most gifted artists 140 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: the world has ever known. I'm Gay Lousier and hopefully 141 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 142 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with 143 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and 144 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d i HC. Show. You can also 145 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,079 Speaker 1: leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and you can 146 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: write to us at this Day at i heart media 147 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 148 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:25,839 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 149 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more 150 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 151 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.