Vincent van Gogh was 35 years old when he cut off his left ear just before Christmas, 1888. It was the beginning of a period of uncertainty. Several severe crises and attacks followed, but it remained unclear what exactly Vincent was suffering from. Yet, it had a serious impact on his life.
How did Vincent deal with the uncertainties of his
Dream
Vincent’s dream was to have his own artists’ community in his Yellow House in Arles. When his painter friend Paul Gauguin arrived in October 1888, this dream seemed to come true. At first, the artists worked happily side by side, but soon the situation deteriorated.
Discussions about art became more frequent, and sometimes heated. Vincent found it important to work from reality. Gauguin painted from memory, from his imagination.
Vincent van Gogh, The Yellow House (The Street), 1888
Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Gauguin, 1888
Vincent van Gogh, Gauguin’s Chair, 1888 / Vincent van Gogh, Van Gogh's Chair, 1888, The National Gallery, London
Difference of Opinion
The difference of opinion between the two friends is clearly visible in these two works. You could see them as portraits of the artists.
In Vincent’s painting Gauguin’s Chair, the lamp, candlestick, and the book refer to the nocturnal dream world, and therefore to the imagination. In Van Gogh’s Chair, the onions represent nature, i.e. painting from reality.
Report of the ear incident on the front page of the Forum Républicain, 30 December 1888.
Ear
The situation came to a head on 23 December, 1888. After a heated argument, Vincent, in utter confusion, cut off his left ear.
He wrapped his ear in paper and took it to a prostitute in the village. The girl fainted and the entire brothel was in commotion. They called the police, who found the artist at his home the following morning. Vincent was hospitalised, and Gauguin returned to
There was an article in the local newspaper about the incident.
Hospital
Vincent had been in hospital for less than a day when he was visited by his brother Theo. The latter had left Paris in a hurry and travelled by train to be with his brother. Vincent’s friends
At the hospital, Vincent was treated by assistant physician Dr Félix Rey. Despite Dr Rey’s
The hospital’s main physician sent a certificate and letter to the mayor, stating that ‘Mr Vincent is suffering from insanity’. He recommended that Vincent be committed to a psychiatric hospital, ‘for the care that this unfortunate person is receiving at our institution is not sufficient to bring him to reason’.
Vincent van Gogh, Portret van Félix Rey, 1889, Poesjkin Museum, Moskou
Letter from Félix Rey to Irving Stone with drawings of Vincent van Gogh’s mutilated ear, 18 August 1930, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Discovery
The question whether Van Gogh cut off his whole ear or only part of it, remained unanswered for a long time. However, due to these drawings by Dr Rey that were discovered recently, we now know for certain that Vincent cut off his entire ear.
Rey made the sketches for author Irving Stone in 1930. Stone was working on a novel about Vincent’s life. Commenting on the top drawing, Rey wrote, ‘The ear was cut off with a razor along the dotted line.’
Slow Recovery
Fortunately, there was no need to commit Vincent to a psychiatric hospital then. He slowly recovered and was allowed to go home after two weeks. There, he tried to pick up the pieces and began painting again. He wrote to Theo, ‘…I didn’t know that one could break one’s brain and that afterwards that got better too.’
Vincent van Gogh, Still Life with a Plate of Onions, 1889, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
In addition to two self-portraits of him with his bandaged ear, Vincent created this still life with onions.
He included mostly personal objects, such as his pipe and tobacco. Placed beside these are the envelope of a letter by his brother Theo, an empty bottle of absinthe, and a popular handbook that he consulted for self-medication.
Ill in Arles
Unfortunately, Vincent’s situation soon deteriorated again. More crises and hospitalisations followed. During the attacks, Vincent was utterly confused and had no idea what he was saying or doing. This affected not only him, but also the people around him.
His friends and family were worried, his neighbours had even become afraid of him. They started a petition to ensure that Vincent was locked up in a psychiatric hospital. In the petition, they declared he was 'not of sound mind, and is the subject of fear of all the residents of the neighbourhood'.
Vincent was very sad about this: ‘At least I have not harmed anyone and I am not dangerous to anyone,’ he told the Reverend Fréderic Salles.
Voluntary Admission
Vincent recovered, eventually, making a compulsory admission unnecessary. But he knew things couldn’t go on like this. Vincent wanted to stay in Arles, but no longer dared to live on his own.
In May 1889, he voluntarily had himself admitted to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole psychiatric hospital in Saint-Rémy.
Vincent van Gogh, Garden of the Asylum, 1889
A Year in the Psychiatric Institution
Accompanied by the Reverend Fréderic Salles, Vincent arrived at the psychiatric hospital on 8 May 1889. He would eventually spend a year there. ‘Mr Vincent was perfectly calm and explained his illness to the director himself.’ Dr Peyron entered Vincent’s information and his
Painting as a Remedy
Initially, the rhythm and structure of life at the psychiatric hospital calmed Vincent down. He used another cell as his studio, and when he felt well enough, he was allowed to work outside the hospital.
Vincent’s studio overlooked the garden of the institution. He often worked there, producing the most beautiful drawings and paintings. Sometimes, he painted the garden as a whole, sometimes he created close-ups of flowers, plants, and all kinds of small creatures he found there.
Painting was the best remedy for his psychiatric disorder, but he couldn’t work during attacks and indeed wasn’t allowed to. Doing nothing was unbearable for Vincent.
Vincent van Gogh, Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, 1889, Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Vincent van Gogh, Window in the Studio, 1889
Vincent van Gogh, Garden of the Asylum, 1889
Vincent van Gogh, Giant Peacock Moth, 1889
A Candid Letter
In one of his letters to his brother Theo written at the institution, Vincent was candid about his psychiatric disorder and how he looked back on his difficult time in Arles:
To Theo van Gogh, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, c. Thursday, 23 May 1889
‘Now the shock had been such that it disgusted me even to move, and nothing would have been so agreeable to me as never to wake up again. At present this horror of life is already less pronounced, and the melancholy less acute. But I still have absolutely no will...’
He also wrote about other people in the hospital. At first, Vincent was afraid of them. They could sometimes be heard shouting in the corridors. But in the end, the sight of and contact with these fellow patients offered him comfort and reassurance.
‘I observe in others that, like me, they too have heard sounds and strange voices during their crises, that things also appeared to change before their eyes. And that softens the horror that I retained at first of the crisis I had... Had I not seen other mad people at close hand I wouldn’t have been able to rid myself of thinking about it all the time.’
New Crises
During the first few months, Vincent did not suffer any new crises, increasing his hopes for recovery. But in July, things went badly wrong again. He was painting a quarry when he felt a new attack coming on. More crises followed.
The return of his condition made Vincent fearful and insecure. His hopes for a full recovery were dashed. ‘For many days I’ve been absolutely distraught, and it’s to be presumed that these crises will recur in the future, it is ABOMINABLE.’
Vincent van Gogh, Entrance to a Quarry, 1889
Longing to Paint
The months that followed were marked by alternating periods of crises, recovery and health. Vincent had ‘little or no hope’ of ever getting better, but still longed to paint.
Thus, whenever he felt well enough, he continued to work. One of the works he painted during this period is this Pietà after a print of a painting by Delacroix. Perhaps Vincent identified himself with the recently deceased Christ? ‘… [I]n the very suffering religious thoughts sometimes console me a great deal,’ he wrote to Theo.
Célestin François Nanteuil, Pietà (after Delacroix), 1848-1852 // Vincent van Gogh, Pietà (after Delacroix), 1889.
Vincent van Gogh, Doctor Gachet, 1890, private collection.
Time to Leave
Vincent began to feel increasingly trapped at the psychiatric hospital and wanted to leave as soon as possible.
After a year, in May 1890, he left for Auvers in northern France. There, he was closer to Theo, who lived in Paris. Dr Gachet from Auvers was asked to take care of him.
The Final Months
Vincent found it difficult to deal with the uncertainty about his future and illness. He felt lonely and depressed. Nevertheless, he was exceptionally productive in Auvers. Within a period of seventy days, he produced some 75 paintings and over a hundred sketches and drawings of the picturesque village and vast cornfields and forests surrounding it.
Nature gave him comfort and strength. And despite the uncertainty about his future, Vincent continued to believe in the healing power of painting.
You can read more about Vincent’s final months in Auvers in the story ‘The End of a Difficult Road’.
Vincent van Gogh had an eventful life. It wasn't always easy. Do you have dark feelings or suicidal thoughts? It helps to talk.
