by kanjalid on April 23rd, 2005

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Why did Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear?

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by Mister Rogers on March 14th, 2007

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In December the two artists visited Montpellier and viewed works by Courbet and Delacroix in the Museé Fabre. However, their relationship was deteriorating badly. They quarrelled fiercely about art. Van Gogh felt an increasing fear that Gauguin was going to desert him, and what he described as a situation of "excessive tension" reached a crisis point on December 23, 1888, when Van Gogh stalked Gauguin with a razor and then cut off the lower part of his own left ear, which he wrapped in newspaper and gave to a prostitute named Rachel in the local brothel, asking her to "keep this object carefully."[59] Gauguin left Arles and did not see Van Gogh again. Van Gogh was hospitalised and in a critical state for a few days. He was immediately visited by Theo (whom Gauguin had notified), as well as Madame Ginoux and frequently by Roulin.
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- I think this is right. Van Gogh and Gauguin are the names of my two dogs. Van Gogh was missing his right ear when I got him at the pound; no one knew how it had happened. When People ask me I tell them that he cut it off to impress some bitch. Most people don't get the joke and just look at me funny.
  
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  by branciforte3241 on March 14th, 2007
- lol some people have no sense of humor...I swear(with eyes rolling)
  
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  by lizizhere on March 14th, 2007
- What Mr.Rogers said seems like more of what i've heard. My fav painting of Van Gogh is the Blossoming Almond Tree - very beautiful.
  
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  by none on August 6th, 2007
- isn't it messed up?
  
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  by Mister Rogers on November 28th, 2008
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by Joel Lyons on April 24th, 2005
To be precise, it was the lobe of his left ear which he put into an
envelope and gave to a brothel wench named Rachel with
these words: "Guard this object carefully." After he tried to
drink a quart of turpentine in his studio, he was sent to the
asylum at Saint-Remy on May 7, 1889. The doctors began to
treat him with hydrotherapy for acute mania and epilepsy. A
precise diagnosis of Van Gogh's illness is still unavailable,
despite hundreds of conjectures. We do know a few facts:
Van Gogh suffered from syphilis contracted from prostitutes
off the docks at Antwerp; there was also a history of mental
illness in his family. Some physicians now believe Van Gogh
may have had a congenital brain lesion that was aggravated by
absinthe.
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- Being an art major I'd have to agree that you hit the nail right on the head!
  
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  by Anonymous on April 24th, 2005
- Excellent answer!
  
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  by Astaroth on April 25th, 2005
- He was nuts. Being nuts myself I'd say Joel did good research. Absinthe makes the lobe fall farther.
  
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  by notmrjohn on April 28th, 2005
- fantastic answer! bravo
  
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  by babatunde odunlami on May 2nd, 2005
- Yep, thats right. That absinthe is some gooooood stuff
  
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  by mike blair on December 7th, 2005
- mike blair....is a retard.
  
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  by annnanomis on December 2nd, 2006
- He also ate his paints, which couldn't have helped.
  
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  by Halskiisaklink on July 7th, 2007
- vangoh was awesom but fucking crazy
  
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  by josh fox on February 2nd, 2009
- van gogh has awsome art but needed alot of metical attention
  
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  by blondie on October 22nd, 2009
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by Andy Is Wicked Married to Penal Colony on April 24th, 2005
The short and sweet answer. . .

It has been speculated that Van Gogh suffered from bi-polar disorder(see http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/1380). He commited suicide in 1890.

Around 1888, van Gogh suffered a mental breakdown (possibly induced by absinthe) and cut off part of his left ear, which he gave to a startled prostitute friend.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh
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- thankyou who ever wrote that!! You have been a great help for my assignment on Van Gogh.
  
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  by - b u b z - on May 18th, 2005
- Absinthe has never been scientifically connected with any form of mental disorder. See the Wikipedia entry on absinthe for more info. However, alcoholism may well have contributed (though it was more likely a symptom).
  
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  by traineraz on July 16th, 2006
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by Stu B in his light spring COAT on August 13th, 2008
he was afraid Paul Gaugin was going to desert him and their partnership...
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by just_theories on August 13th, 2008
An alternative theory about this act goes something like this:

In an act of desperation in regard to Paul Gauguin's imminent departure, van Gogh cut off part of his ear: Gauguin and van Gogh were lovers.
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by Anonymous on April 29th, 2008
Um, perhaps he did it because no matter how hard you try to get people to understand a different perspective, most people just want to hear what they have always heard :)
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by misskitty3681 on April 23rd, 2008
He had an ear disorder where he would hear ringing in his ear or he had mulitple personality disorder.

Some research is saying he may have been bipolar.
Comments
- Yes you might be right bipolar symptoms can include :hearing voices in your head, possible ringing,confusion, mood swings raging from low ( deep depression) to high ( rage or a feeling of complete invinsability) sometimes a feeling of being high. They also make very bad judgements in these states. AKA the cutting of the ear most likely a deep to him but ,of course, extreme example of his love. Most people have a even mood bipolars can't stay there. It's common for them to have higher I.Q.'s but it's hard to access. It usually hits hard in the early 20's until then most can fool even the closest of peers in the end this makes things worse because they dont get help in time. I have the brain disease myself I did horrible in school but later found my I.Q. to be in the 130's. Bipolars I was told by a doctor use the right side of our brain much more then most people. This controls the creative thoughts AKA Art. It also houses the impulsive thoughts.In a way Bipolar made his art great.
  
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  by Werejaguar on November 1st, 2009
- Yes you might be right bipolar symptoms can include :hearing voices in your head, possible ringing,confusion, mood swings raging from low ( deep depression) to high ( rage or a feeling of complete invinsability) sometimes a feeling of being high. They also make very bad judgements in these states. AKA the cutting of the ear most likely a deep to him but ,of course, extreme example of his love. Most people have a even mood bipolars can't stay there. It's common for them to have higher I.Q.'s but it's hard to access. It usually hits hard in the early 20's until then most can fool even the closest of peers in the end this makes things worse because they dont get help in time. I have the brain disease myself I did horrible in school but later found my I.Q. to be in the 130's. Bipolars I was told by a doctor use the right side of our brain much more then most people. This controls the creative thoughts AKA Art. It also houses the impulsive thoughts.In a way Bipolar made his art great
  
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  by Werejaguar on November 1st, 2009
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by singwell-is off researching a lot on March 11th, 2007
Wikipedia:
Van Gogh cut off the ear lobe on one of his ears during some sort of seizure on December 23, 1888[citation needed]. Mental problems afflicted him, particularly in the last few years of his life. During some of these periods he did not paint, or was not allowed to. There has been much debate over the years as to the source of Van Gogh's mental illness and its effect on his work. Over 150 psychiatrists have attempted to label his illness, and some 30 different diagnoses have been suggested.[65]
Diagnoses which have been put forward include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria. Any of these could have been the culprit and been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, insomnia, and a fondness for alcohol, and absinthe in particular.

====================
Any and/or all of the above reasons, brought on by a disagreement with a prostitute.
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- I just read a book about this! Because there was a fake that was distributed and the way they knew it was a fake was because in the mirror it reflected the OTHER ear and the fake showed the same ear irregardless of how it should have been reflected.
  
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  by Snooch on March 11th, 2007
- how interesting! :-)
  
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  by singwell-is off researching a lot on March 11th, 2007
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by jin jang on January 21st, 2007
Because he had one too many ears.
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by MovieStarInTraining on May 1st, 2005
Actually, van Gogh and Gauguin were friends for a long time, until one day when they were both drunk, they got into a duel. It's believed that Gauguin cut off part of van Gogh's ear during that duel, and the next morning van Gogh didn't remember it, so Gauguin was easily able to pass it off as van Gogh having done it himself out of insanity, hearing voices, or other such legends. This duel didn't take place with swords, it's just a fancy name for a drunken fight back then. van Gogh attacked Gauguin with a razor, and it's probable that Gauguin wrested it from Vincent and cut part of the man's ear off. There's a book somewhere out there all on the evidence of this, but unfortunately I couldn't find it.
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by Charlie is a girl on January 28th, 2010
Some think that it was because he heard voices,which caused him to want to get rid of them,thus cutting his ear off.I guess that no one alive really knows the answer to that question.?
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by iwnit on December 7th, 2009
1) Traditional version:
"On 23 December 1888, frustrated and ill, Van Gogh confronted Gauguin with a razor blade. In panic, Van Gogh left their hotel and fled to a local brothel. While there, he cut off the lower part of his left ear lobe. He wrapped the severed tissue in newspaper and gave to a prostitute named Rachel, asking her to "keep this object carefully.""

"According to Doiteau & Leroy, the diagonal cut removed the lobe and probably a little more."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh

2) Alternative version:
"According to official versions, the disturbed Dutch painter cut off his ear with a razor after a row with Gauguin in 1888. Bleeding heavily, Van Gogh then walked to a brothel and presented the severed ear to an astonished prostitute called Rachel before going home to sleep in a blood-drenched bed.

But two German art historians, who have spent 10 years reviewing the police investigations, witness accounts and the artists' letters, argue that Gauguin, a fencing ace, most likely sliced off the ear with his sword during a fight, and the two artists agreed to hush up the truth.

In Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence, published in Germany, Hamburg-based academics Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans argue that the official version of events, based largely on Gauguin's accounts, contain inconsistencies and that both artists hinted that the truth was more complex.

Van Gogh and Gauguin's troubled friendship was legendary. In 1888, Van Gogh persuaded him to come to Arles in the south of France to live with him in the Yellow House he had set up as a "studio of the south". They spent the autumn painting together before things soured. Just before Christmas, they fell out. Van Gogh, seized by an attack of a metabolic disease became aggressive and was apparently crushed when Gauguin said he was leaving for good.

Kaufmann told the Guardian: "Near the brothel, about 300 metres from the Yellow House, there was a final encounter between them: Vincent might have attacked him, Gauguin wanted to defend himself and to get rid of this 'madman'. He drew his weapon, made some movement in the direction of Vincent and by that cut off his left ear." Kaufmann said it was not clear if it was an accident or an aimed hit.

While curators at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam stand by the theory of self-mutilation, Kaufmann argues that Van Gogh dropped hints in letters to his brother, Theo, once commenting : "Luckily Gauguin ... is not yet armed with machine guns and other dangerous war weapons.""
Source and further information:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/may/04/vincent-van-gogh-ear
Comments
- well listen iwnit(which should read nimwit),anyone can go to a wikipedia and look up this shit. you obviously did that. i applaud you for your stamina in writing what you did. you don't have the story straight at ALL! van gogh took his ear off himself. you know nothing about van gogh because you are limited by a little dictionary and possibly the computer intelligence (which has a lot to be said about). i have studied this man and know better than anyone. i have read all skeptics comments and hypothesizes and know only too well what the medical community has concluded and always did conclude about this wonderful painter. now......go find something better to look up in the dictionary!!
  
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  by roxyroxy on December 8th, 2009
- roxyroxy: thank you for your feedback.
  I know very well that I don't know much about the answer that I write, which are based on research. As you very well notice, anyone could do this kind of research.
  If you read my answer accurately, the first theory that I quote, proposed by Wikipedia, is exactly yours (that he took his ear off himself).
  The Wikipedia article, by the way, also speaks of various possible medical conditions, which includes the "temporal lobe epilepsy" mentioned in your own answer:
  http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/8490289
  "There has been much debate over the years as to the source of Van Gogh's illness and its effect on his work. Over 150 psychiatrists have attempted to label its root, and some 30 different diagnoses have been suggested. Diagnoses that have been put forward include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria. Any of these could have been the culprit and been aggravated by malnutrition, overwork, insomnia and a fondness for alcohol, especially absinthe."
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh
  
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  by iwnit on December 8th, 2009
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by roxyroxy on December 7th, 2009
vincent had temporal lobe epilepsy. during his many seizures, he often times forgot where he was. he suffered moods of indescribable mental anguish. i have temporal lobe epilepsy from a brain tumor. came out just fine, only now i have TLE. that's how i know about one of the greatest painters that ever lived.

here's the story with the ear.....
vincent was familiar with another painter (gauguin), whom he almost had gay tendencies for. upon gauguin's leaving the domicile of vincent, vincent apologized for his outburst of rage. didn't work. vincent then took a razor to shave the edges of his ruddy beard when he heard a disembodied voice commanding him to kill gauguin. vincent after stalking his friend could not follow thru. he then went home and used the razor blade on himself.

after he draped his ear with towel after towel, he picked up his severed ear which he had cut off in a fit of TLE, walked through the village to a brothel that ganguin frequented, where he gave his left ear on a stoop(or doorstep) with a note saying it was a "keepsake" for a prostitute who had once posed for him.

pretty amazing shit huh?
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- roxyroxy: I gave some points to your answer because you seem to know the subject very well.
  See also the comment thread to my own answer:
  http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/8490392
  
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  by iwnit on December 8th, 2009
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by Ec-nal Licensed Bootie Inspector on April 25th, 2008
Didn't know the man but I suspect he was stupid yo...
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by THE TRAVEL SLUT on January 23rd, 2008
I believe that the devils brew 'Absinthe" had something to do with it. That, combined with his fragile state of mind were probable factors
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by Jeztyr - whispering in the ears of kings on January 23rd, 2008
He was always mentally unstable. He'd just had a falling out with his friend and fellow painter Gauguin, so he cut his ear off, wrapped it in a handkerchief and gave it to a prostitute down the road.
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by Lizou on January 23rd, 2008
well actualy, he wanted to make a gift for his wife i think, and well he was a bit crazy...well kinda XD he was in the middle of a deep depression, and back then that = crazy!
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by The Reverend Soleil on January 23rd, 2008
According to the movie "Akira Kurosawa's Dreams", he was painting a self portrait and couldn't get the ear to come out right, so he cut it off...
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by Cowboy-Matter of Fact on January 21st, 2008
He was a mentally disturbed, talented, kook.
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by SABOTEUR on January 21st, 2008
You've OBVIOUSLY never met his wife.
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by Tamilze on January 21st, 2008
Peer pressure.
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- I'm sure you have tons of peer pressure. Please don't wack anything off to make a point. No pun intended.
  
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  by Cowboy-Matter of Fact on January 21st, 2008
- Ahaha...ewww.
  
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  by Tamilze on January 21st, 2008
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by Possum on January 21st, 2008
symetry?
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by ear that fell off on April 5th, 2007
He cut his ear off because he drank too much absynthe...He was a tarnished genius destroyed by his own ingenuity.... The universe took him from us, but remember the universe gives us what we want when we want, therefore we being the creators of our own lives. Vincent Van Gogh was the creator and therefore destroyer of his own life... nothing more nothing less.... People look way too much into all this when the answer is simple..... just look at your own life and recognise, whether you like it or not, that you are the creator of your own world... i mean everything in it.... this was maybe not what van gogh understood.....
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by Brian I on March 15th, 2007
If you type Van Gogh into the little "Find answers about:" box near the top of the screen you'll find this information very quickly without having to wait for the people on-line now to answer.
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- Gotcha covered there nevets. :)
  
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  by gtravels loves her life penguin on March 15th, 2007
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by Halskiisaklink on March 11th, 2007
A woman made him cut off his ear LOBE (not his whole ear). Also, he used to eat his own paints. Not a pretty picture.
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- You've watched Vincent and Theo haven't you?
  
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  by travis bickle on March 11th, 2007
- No, but I do like Coke Zero.
  
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  by Halskiisaklink on March 11th, 2007
- The paint eating and ear lobe thing reminded me of it. Now, what shall I say that's equally as random and pointless as stating my liking for Coke Zero...?
  
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  by travis bickle on March 11th, 2007
- ...You like to think about fluffy ducklings while twanging your nipples in the dark?
  
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  by Halskiisaklink on March 11th, 2007
- That was disturbing.
  
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  by travis bickle on March 11th, 2007
- Oh yeah, lol.
  
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  by Halskiisaklink on March 12th, 2007
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by Mr. McClister on January 3rd, 2007
To make a long story short...no one really knows. It is a highly publicized rumor that he was a little off the deep end and that's why; however, I wouldn't put to much stock in any of the crazy theories out there.
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by Littlemisswallflower on December 8th, 2006
Because he was in love with a prostitute, but didn't have any money, so she left him, and he cut off his ear lobe and sent in to her...

hmmm such a poor guy. suicidal and all :

hope this helps. though you seem to have already gotten all the help you needed. I was just exited because I knew the answer :D lol
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by artisallaround on December 6th, 2006
I have first heard that he cut off his ear,as he really wanted to touch it and hold it in his hands,and draw it then..he just did it due to his his eager to draw the exact form of his ear..that's all!!...But I like the speculation about the bullfights in Arles more..Why not???
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by Pointeman1 on May 22nd, 2005
To add to an excellent answer; one other thing caused van Gogh's erratic behavior; Being an artist he used many substances for painting. Many oil paints in those days contained very poisonous substances; one of the major ones being cadmium which was used to make very bright reds yellows and whites. So the poor man may also have had the added problem of cadmium poisoning to deal with.
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by Kenda7 on May 22nd, 2005
So many variations! I was taught in college that there was no interesting story behind it at all. It is heavily speculated, and taught in Art Colleges world wide, that he had a seizure disorder. He had an episode one day while shaving, lost control of his motor skills and sliced PART of his ear off... completely by accident.
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by mkwrk2 on May 19th, 2009
He did not...

Michael Kerjman
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by celery69 on June 1st, 2009
He likely suffered from bipolar disorder and possibly schizophrenia, not to mention syphilis was likely wreaking havoc on his gray matter.
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by kit on February 28th, 2009
I heard he suffered from extreme ringing of the ear, tinnitus, which I do have.If I knew cutting off my ear would stop the incessant ringing I would also. My ENT Doctors have said the same thing. Tinnitus in hearing loss can also be referred to as phantom pain. Like when one looses a limb the brain knows something is missing so it compensates by pain, in ears it compensates with sound ringing.
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by green tie bb on February 9th, 2009
he loved a girl but his girlfrind split up with him and hi in a werird way cut it of for her sake
he cut of his ear for a woman but some say that he cut it off so that he can get more ditaled in his self portrate's
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by poopman on December 7th, 2009
because he wanted to
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by roxyroxy on October 31st, 2009
he had temporal lobe epilepsy
and yes, he was fucking awesome. but he suffered from severe epileptic scarring. trust me, i know.

love roxy
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by hehehe.not.me on February 1st, 2009
he got tired of his b'itch nagging him so he decided to scare the sh'it out of his wench say'in ur next...
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by lizizhere on March 14th, 2007
Because they didn't have cd players or mp3 players back then & he didn't think he would miss it...We was taught in Art class about him, yes he was in love with that woman but he was mentally ill if I remember correctly. But was a good artist.
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- that is a stupid answer!
  
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  by VeryHot4U on April 27th, 2007
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by ohms98 on February 8th, 2012
he was attacted and if you do not beleve me copy this link and read the artic le http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103990820
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by lsheenamojana on May 31st, 2011
BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR WHATEVER HE SAYS, BECAUSE THEY TAUGHT THAT VINCENT VAN GOGH IS INSANE. BUT THEY NEVER KNOW THAT HE JUST ASK A SIMPLE QUESTION TO OTHERS, BUT FOR OTHER IS KIND OF A WEIRD, AND MAYBE I UNDERSTAND VINCENT VAN GOGH BECAUSE ME AS AN ORDINARY PEOPLE ASK QUESTION BUT A HARD FOR OTHERS TO ANSWER. SO THAT FEW OF MY FRIENDS ARE TAUGHT THAT I'M A WEIRD PERSON, BECAUSE FOR THEM THEY ONLY ANSWER IS THAT "WE ARE JUST PERSON A HUMAN WHO CREATE BY GOD". BUT FOR ME... I AM NOT ENOUGH IN THAT SIMPLE ANSWER...

-MOJANA LAGMAN
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by SpaceCase on March 11th, 2007
A woman was the reason.
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by noletters on March 11th, 2007
A woman.
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by bandgeek6516 on March 11th, 2007
I have heard that he was schizophrenic (spelling?) and cut it off to try to get rid of the voices in his head.
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by American idle on March 11th, 2007
You should really read the whole story. He was a facinating man.
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by Michael on February 28th, 2011
he went mental in the head
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by bpathos on February 28th, 2011
Simply because he didn't like what it said. He took his scriptures serious. His mental health came and went. He was admitted to mental warehouses and when it pasted let go. What we call being a "Cutter" in todays culture must have existed then too. But, having a "fit" in private would never have been known. The voices picked on him till...

Van Gogh’s ear sings tales all night
Soulful moaning over mind’s eye sight

Antagonize the heart and turn the eye
A visitor to the heart or passing by

From this spring that we all drink
What whispers all the thoughts we think

Lunatic genius with eyes turned in
Tell me where my mind has been

A freighting tether is shelter and cage
Where the writer’s pen touches page

Ink’s fossil trail bleeding from my pen
A history of where my heart has been

To go and not say in doing so
Beyond this point no words can go

With feet of clay and hand to chalk
I’ve come to hear Van Gogh’s ear talk

- Blind Pathos -
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by Lulu_xoxo_101 on November 5th, 2010
No body really knows why! Some say he didnt cut off his ear , Paul did. They were fighting over Van Gogh's girlfriend. Some say he propossed to a girl he knew and she refused. Some even say it was because he just laked of self love! So I guess will find out somtime! :)
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by koldkanuck on September 22nd, 2010
because it disappointed him therefore VVG disinherited it.
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by Marky Mark on January 28th, 2010
Apparently he was very depressed.
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by Swami_Rick on November 5th, 2010
He sent it to his girlfriend because he hadn't heard from her.
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