Many years ago, I saw an impressionist exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was taken aback by how beautiful and incredible the works of artists like Monet, Degas, and Vincent Van Gogh were.
I had seen Van Gogh's paintings in books, but when I saw his masterpieces in real life, they took my breath away.
On December 23, 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.
Does an earlobe count?
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