Cabbage and Clogs is the title of a painting by which famous artist?
This was one of the questions at a recent zoom quiz. I correctly guessed Van Gogh but the glory was fleeting; all other quizers got it right too. The clogs, I guess, were a dead giveaway.
The next morning, shaking off one too many beers, I googled the painting. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find a still life of a cabbage and a pair of clogs. But I was. I guess I was expecting to see Van Gogh’s iconic style. Bright colors, thick blobs of paint, the swirling greens and yellows. Instead this was dark and moody. I felt like I had stumbled upon a painting done in his teenage angst years. All doom and gloom and yet it was still powerful.
Spurred on by this curious find I decided to delve deeper into the artist’s life. I wanted to see what other surprises Van Gogh could throw at me. Turns out, a lot. I also discovered that all the things I previously knew - Tortured artist that cut off his and took his own life - were either wrong or didn’t happen quite as I thought it did.
Tortured artist
It’s common knowledge that any artist worth his or her salt needs to be haunted by a trauma. It also helps if they drink, smoke and use drugs on a regular basis. The best writers, poets, and artist have all been damaged in some way shape of form. It’s the path to greatness. Right?
Van Gogh certainly ticked all those boxes, and a few more for good measure. He was the quintessential “tortured artist.” He had a debilitating illness of mind and drank too much, but that’s was the price he had to pay for his genius!
For some reason we have romanticized mental health issues in artists. If you’re an accountant that suffers with a disorder it’s a tragedy, if you’re a painter or a poet, it’s cool. You can use that suffering to create.
Van Gogh himself would be the first person to disagree with this way of thinking. He wrote extensively about his illness and he didn’t see this as an advantage at all. During his most serious bouts of depression, he was paralyzed and unable to lift a paint brush.
Psychologist too have weighed in on the topic. According to many specialists a broken mind could no more inspire you to paint than a broken leg.
But the myth continues. When we look at Van Gogh’s painting, we try to find hints of his madness. Maybe in the swirls are a sign of his madness? The bright colors and wacky dimensions are how his deranged mind saw the world?
There is no doubt that Van Gogh was a troubled man. But a more respectful way of remembering him is by saying he was a great artist despite his illness not because of it.
Ear incident
On one of his drinking binges, Van Gogh used a rusty blade to sever his ear off, afterwards he handed it to his prostitute lover, saying. “Please take care of it.”
That’s how the story goes.
The “ear incident”, as I call it, is arguably the most well-known, yet most misunderstood story about the great artist. We all known what he did but very few of us know why he did it?
At the time Van Gogh was living in the south of France. He had ambitions of starting a retreat for artists, a place where painters could hang out, forget about their worries and just paint. It almost came to fruition. Friend and fellow artist, Gauguin, joined him and for a while they got along. But cracks soon appeared in their relationship. Two alcoholic artists living under one roof is never a good idea.
As the arguments got louder and more violet Gauguin decided to move on. This was a huge blow for Van Gogh. His dream of starting an artist retreat was gone, and his friend was slipping away. Unable to cope with the overwhelming swell of emotions he began drinking more. This didn’t help, only made him more belligerent and threatening.
On the day Gauguin left Van Gogh snapped. Drunk and in the fog of a psychosis he picked a razor blade up from the sink and violently slashed at the flesh and cartridge of his ear.
Afterwards he stumbled around the town looking for Gauguin, the severed half-ear in his pocket. Failing to find his friend at local bars or brothels he settled on giving the ear to a prostitute.
Next day Van Gogh was found in his room, sleeping in a pool of his own blood. Distressed and disturbed it wasn’t long before he was in an insane asylum.
Murder or Suicide
Who can resist a good old murder mystery? While many historians and researchers will outright dismiss the murder theory there are enough oddities surrounding Van Gogh’s suicide to warrant a further look.
I had always assumed this was an open and shut case. I can even picture it in my head. Van Gogh sits under a willow tree, he scribbles a note about not being about to take it anymore. Then, tired of fighting his demons, he produces a pistol from his pocket and ends it all. The sound of the shot sends crows flying.
If you think that sounds a little cinematic, you’re right. This is actually the final scene from the movie Lust for Life with Kirk Douglas. Thereabouts. You can forgive the filmmakers for taking liberties. Van Gogh’s final day or days were, in reality, messy and confusing and didn’t fit comfortably into a movie narrative.
On the day in question, Van Gogh gathered his easel and paints and went to the wheat fields as usual. What happened next, however, is unclear. Towards the end of the day the artist stumbled back home clutching his stomach. I have done something he proclaimed.
For the next three days he lay in his room writhing in pain. Doctors puzzled over the small wound in his gut and concluded it was probably a gunshot.
Even if we disregard the fact that Van Gogh never mentions suicide or left a note, this is far from being an open and shut suicide.
There are plenty of questions left hanging. Why did he shoot himself in the stomach? And surely since this, why didn’t he finish the job? There’s also a mystery surrounding his easel. It was never found. And finally, where did he get the gun? Van Gogh was never reported to carry a weapon.