Gauguin 'cut off Van Gogh's ear'.

Gauguin 'cut off Van Gogh's ear'

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. Van Gogh famously painted a self-portrait with his ear bandaged http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8033650.stm From BBC