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What evidence led some art historians to suggest Paul Gauguin may have injured Vincent van Gogh’s ear?
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Vincent van Gogh
Self-Portrait, oil on artist's board on cradled panel by Vincent van Gogh, 1887; in the Art Institute of Chicago.
While the traditional account holds that Vincent van Gogh mutilated his own ear following a heated argument with Paul Gauguin, some art historians have challenged this narrative.
In their book Van Gogh’s Ohr: Paul Gauguin und der Pakt des Schweigens (2008), art historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans proposed that Gauguin may have been responsible for the injury. Their theory is based on an examination of contemporary police records and the correspondence between the two artists.1
Key points of their argument include:
- Weaponry: They suggest that the injury was inflicted with a sword rather than a razor.12
- Pact of Silence: They argue that the two artists agreed to the self-mutilation story to protect Gauguin from legal consequences and to preserve their reputations.1
While this theory has gained attention, it remains a subject of historical debate, as the traditional version of events has been widely accepted for over a century.1