'Pact of Silence' examines incident of van Gogh's ear
It's one of the most legendary stories in all of art history. That in 1888, Vincent van Gogh cut off part of his left ear and gave it to a prostitute named Rachel as a gesture of love.
Now, a soon to be released English version of the German book titled "Van Goghs Ohr: Paul Gauguin und der Pakt des Schweigens " (Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence) will be published in an attempt to debunk the legend.
In it, Hamburg-based academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans proffer that the official version of events are inconsistent at best. Instead, they theorize that the lopping off of van Gogh's ear was a mere accident, the result of a row between he and fellow artist Paul Gauguin on Dec. 23, 1888.
Two months prior, the pair had taken up quarters in a small yellow house in Arles at the suggestion of Theo van Gogh, Vincent's older brother and patron and Gauguin's dealer in Paris.
Much has been made of Vincent van Gogh's descent into madness, a probable result of a bipolar affliction that led him to commit suicide at the age of 37. But in the fall of 1888, living alone in the south of France, van Gogh's only complaint in letters written to Theo was that of shear loneliness.
Theo's idea that Gauguin and van Gogh should live together had many advantages: Gauguin could keep an eye on the increasingly unstable Vincent, and the two stone-broke artists could share expenses. Excited by the idea, Vincent thought together they would form a "Studio of the South" in the little yellow house.
This would be "an artists' house," wrote Vincent, "but not affected, on the contrary, nothing affected."
But living, eating and working together in a room only 15 feet wide and 24 feet long proved to be taxing. Except for occasional outings with visiting friends and nightly visits to the local brothels, which the pair termed "hygienic excursions," the two artists were rarely apart.
Imagine this "Odd Couple" pairing. Van Gogh, then 35, was "Oscar." Just as unkempt as Neil Simon's Broadway and TV character, he would talk incessantly while working frenetically, oftentimes fueled by too much alcohol.
The 40-year-old Gauguin, on the other hand, liked everything orderly and neat. He was the "Felix" of the scenario. A former stockbroker and onetime sailor in France's Merchant Marine, he favored solitude, but was a good cook who did not mind preparing meals for others. That was another plus for van Gogh, who sometimes would rather drink than eat.
The only commonalities between the two were bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies.
Gauguin's account is telling: "Between two such beings as he and I, the one a perfect volcano, the other boiling inwardly, some sort of struggle was preparing."
It all came to a head on Dec. 23.
Upset over Gauguin's plans to return to Paris for Christmas, two days prior van Gogh had hurled a glassful of absinthe at Gauguin at a local bar in a fit of rage. "Dear Gauguin," wrote a sober Vincent the following day, "I have a vague memory that I offended you last evening."
Gauguin, who by then was staying in a hotel, readily forgave him. But when Gauguin set about leaving the next day, Dec. 23, with suitcases in hand, van Gogh ran after him in the street hurling wild accusations. Gauguin turned to confront him, whereupon van Gogh retreated to the house they shared.
There, as legend goes, he used the razor to cut off part of his left ear, which he carefully wrapped in newspaper and presented to a young woman at the local brothel who promptly, and fittingly, fainted.
Van Gogh was hospitalized, and Gauguin left for Paris the next day.
But after van Gogh's discharge from the hospital, he begged Gauguin in a letter not to speak ill of "our poor little yellow house."
Kaufmann and Wildegans spent 10 years reviewing the police report, witness accounts and the artists' letters. They claim that it was Gauguin, a skilled fencer, who most likely sliced off the ear with a sword in an act of defense during their final fracas, and the two artists agreed to keep a "pact of silence" -- Gauguin to avoid prosecution and van Gogh in a vain attempt to maintain the friendship, even though van Gogh was institutionalized for most of the rest of his short life and never saw Gauguin again.
Though this new theory of the ear incident will likely be hotly debated (scholars at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam have already publicly dismissed the theory), one thing is clear: The nine short weeks van Gogh and Gauguin spent together in late 1888 in Arles produced works that helped set the stage for much of what we know today as modern art.
During that brief, exhilarating period these two not-yet-famous artists created a stream of masterpieces within the shared studio -- including Van Gogh's "Sunflowers," which decorated Gauguin's bedroom wall.
The story also has inspired writers and filmmakers over the past 120 years, as evidenced by the numerous books and films on the subject.
Which is why most of the Western world believes they know what happened to van Gogh's ear.
Given the romantic nature of the tale, perhaps this story is better left alone. After all, of the long list of biographers for either artist, none have ever come across this account before, and Kaufmann and Wildegans theory of what happened is just that, a theory.
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