Courtauld 01-1 Vincent Van Gogh - Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear [2 of 15]
1. Vincent van Gogh - Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Arles, January 1889, 61 x 50 cm. On the night of December 23, 1888, Vincent van Gogh was drunk and upset that his friend Paul Gauguin was planning to leave. He waved a knife in Gauguin's face, then cut off a piece of his own ear and gave it to a prostitute. Gauguin quickly left for Paris, and van Gogh went to a hospital. A week later, Vincent looked in the mirror and saw a calm man with an unflinching gaze, dressed in a heavy coat (painted with thick, vertical strokes of blue and green) and fur-lined hat, and a slightly stained bandage over his ear.