Gauguin cut off Vincent’s ear

(BBC): Vincent van Gogh did not cut off his own ear but lost it in a fight with fellow artist Paul Gauguin in a row outside a brothel, it has been claimed. It has long been accepted that the mentally ill Dutch painter cut off his own ear with a razor after the row in Arles, southern France, in 1888. But a new book, based on the original police investigation, claims Gauguin swiped Van Gogh’s ear with a sword. The authors argue the official version of events contains inconsistencies. The book, titled In Van Gogh’s Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, is the product of 10 years of research by German academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans.

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