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KF5JRV > TODAY 23.12.18 17:25l 52 Lines 2511 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 27674_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - Dec 23
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<VE2PKT<LU3DVN<XE1FH<W9ABA<KE0GB<KF5JRV
Sent: 181223/1515Z 27674@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.17
On this day in 1888, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, suffering from
severe depression, cuts off the lower part of his left ear with a razor
while staying in Arles, France.He later documented the event in a
painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Today, Van Gogh is
regarded as an artistic genius and his masterpieces sell for
record-breaking prices; however, during his lifetime, he was a poster
boy for tortured starving artists and sold only one painting.
Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in the Netherlands.
He had a difficult, nervous personality and worked unsuccessfully at an
art gallery and then as a preacher among poor miners in Belgium. In
1880, he decided to become an artist. His work from this period–the most
famous of which is The Potato Eaters (1885)–is dark and somber and
reflective of the experiences he had among peasants and impoverished
miners.
In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris where his younger brother Theo, with
whom he was close, lived. Theo, an art dealer, supported his brother
financially and introduced him to a number of artists, including Paul
Gauguin, Camille Pisarro and Georges Seurat. Influenced by these and
other painters, Van Gogh’s own artistic style lightened up and he began
using more color.
In 1888, Van Gogh rented a house in Arles in the south of France, where
he hoped to found an artists’ colony and be less of a burden to his
brother. In Arles, Van Gogh painted vivid scenes from the countryside as
well as still-lifes, including his famous sunflower series. Gauguin came
to stay with him in Arles and the two men worked together for almost two
months. However, tensions developed and on December 23, in a fit of
dementia, Van Gogh threatened his friend with a knife before turning it
on himself and mutilating his ear lobe. Afterward, he allegedly wrapped
up the ear and gave it to a prostitute at a nearby brothel. Following
that incident, Van Gogh was hospitalized in Arles and then checked
himself into a mental institution in Saint-Remy for a year. During his
stay in Saint-Remy, he fluctuated between periods of madness and intense
creativity, in which he produced some of his best and most well-known
works, including Starry Night and Irises.
In May 1890, Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, where he
continued to be plagued by despair and loneliness. On July 27, 1890, he
shot himself and died two days later at age 37.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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