“What’s the craziest thing you believed as a kid?” – reddit
I believed that Van Gogh cut off his ear in frustration when he was painting a self portrait and couldn’t get the ear right. To me as a kid, it was the only logical explanation. I never discussed this with anyone, and believed it for a long time. There are many theories about why Vincent harmed himself, but the issue remains unsettled and the theories remain only that, theories.
I’ve seen varied accounts of exactly how much of his ear Vincent sliced off. When researching his Lust for Life biography of Van Gogh, author Irving Stone asked this question of Doctor Felix Rey, who treated Van Gogh in the hospital. The 2010 rediscovery of Rey’s response, which includes two drawings, gives us the answer: the entire ear, except for a small flap of the lobe.
Translated, the doctor’s comment next to the first drawing says “The ear was sliced with a razor following the dotted line”; the comment next to the second says “The ear showing what remained of the lobe.”
Along with the drawings, in his response Rey wrote
I’m happy to be able to give you the information you have requested concerning my unfortunate friend Van Gogh. I sincerely hope that you won’t fail to glorify the genius of this remarkable painter, as he deserves.