I have never heard that explanation for why he cut his ear off. It makes so much sense. And the Christ complex, thank you for an excellent perspective.
Funny, I can't stand him. Too many assumptions and presents his theories as fact. Didn't notice he was the narrator. Too bad he narrates so many topics I'm interested in.
The scholar says at the end that there are millions of stories in the world of art; what is more important for me is that he always tells them with a magistral dexterity. Thanks for that.
I read a well researched book on the famous ear being cut off. The author, Bernadette Murphy, says that aside from the fact Gauguin was going to abandon Vincent, he’d also received a letter from his brother, Theo, which said he was getting married. Vincent relied heavily on Theo’s financial support, and he was despondent at the notion that Theo would have a wife and may not be able to continue supporting him. And of course, then Gaugin announced he was leaving, and they quarrelled. It is a distressing episode to read about; Vincent lying in agony, all bloodied, on his bed. The police at first thought Gauguin had attacked him, but Gauguin was just as shocked at this turn of events as they were. The book, “Van Gogh’s Ear”, is well worth reading. Murphy, who lives in France and is fluent in French, did a lot of digging. She found records of who was living in Arles at the time he was there, the staff at the brothel, etc. I recommend it.
I did a bit of research and reading over a few years. In some art scholarly circles- Vincent apparently didn't cut at his own ear. During the argument with Gaugain - Vincent was partially slit on his ear in the tussle. Vincent was kept at bay as Gaugain had his fencing sword or similar. Gaugain then left having been attacked. Vincent left and bled at the ear all night at the brothel. Awoken by police next morning and lucky not to have perished that night. He told police he cut his own ear ie so as to not get his friend Gaugain into trouble. Vincent's characteristics were unpredictable but his honour of friendship would be so as to protect his friends regardless. Due to his poverty stricken life and misfortunes- he could always be the bearer of pain and doom. There is also the story of the menacing kids in Auvers whom were often jaunting Vincent as imitating Cowboys with Guns. Incidentally the kid who had shot him had kept silent all those years and eventually died Given the circumstances, he did not want to have his name tarnished as a killer as it would have been the demise of his family name in the village. Vincent did not want the kid to be blamed and then gone off to the dungeons Van Gogh personally took the self infliction as a kind of salvation. Tha pistol which was found a few years back didn't prove much. The police had no powder fragments on Vincent's fingers at the time of incident. It's a tragic chain of events leading nowadays to the vast intrigue into his life and his works. The early 20th century Dealers and Forgers were rife. In my humble opinion- Dr Gachet was the key downfall and eventual demise of Vincent's Slow breakdown. A consistency of frantic painting to pay for his therapy plus lead poisoning over months of exposure. The possible sabotage of the very attentive physician who in essence fast tracked the downfall with contaminated absinthe. Dr Gachet and his heirs also possessed a large stash of the last paintings. The Physician already knew Art Dealers. This isn't to say I'm right or more plausible. Just another viewpoint. If it weren't for Jo Bonger - the artworks may have been long lost forever. Sad and Melancholic Vincent had ran out of supplies in June 1890. There is one particular painting which reads to me as the artists way - a last curtain falling *His Writing on The Wall* Painted in 1890.
No. If you know the subject, you also know that his examples of Van Gogh paintings, are known forgeries accoring to experts. I was very impressed by Waldemar in the beginning, then I began to notice how careless he is with facts.
Ever since Waldemar started presenting I for one became more interested in art, his turning his back to us and looking at the subject along with us somehow makes me more interested?
Looking through the comments, and I may have missed it, but no one seems to have caught that "a million stories in the city" is a reference to the last line of semi-documentary, The Naked City, which was then turned into a police/detective series for television. The line from that first film was “There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.” Januszczak is having a bit of fun casting this film as a detective story, and just one of many out there.
This what Vincent said to Theo in one letter:"I have a portrait of myself, all ash-coloured. The ashen Gray color that is the result of mixing malachite green with an orange hue, on pale malachite ground, all in harmony with the reddish-brown clothes. But I also exaggerate my personality, I have in the first place aimed at the character of a simple bonze worshipping The Eternal Buddha. It will even be necessary for me to recover somewhat more from the stultifying influence of our so-called state of civilisation in order to have a better model for a better picture." The Japanese know The Eternal Buddha as Nichiren Daishonin, whose Head Temple at Taisekiji is at the foot of Mt Fuji. Vincent Van Gogh was seeking The Eternal Buddha Nichiren Daishonin, whose Buddhism is known as The Buddhism of Sowing, and is represented in Vincent Van Gogh's painting The Sower and the setting Sun.
A better problem would be that the painting is a fake in the first place. The "other" bandaged portrait is true to his art style, the vivid colours and the clean quality of his face. Either way, Van Gogh's life was so tragic and miserable, yet his paintings, even the self portraits, were so vivid and full of life.
You've misinterpreted Kunisada's print. These shini-e prints were used as a commemoration when a famous kabuki actor or ukiyo-e printmaker died. People of Hiroshige's position were given a posthumous Buddhist name as an honor. Often, this honor was reflected in the death print. Hiroshige did not "retire from the world" or become a Buddhist monk, as you suggested. He worked as a printmaker creating his two most famous series (One Hundred Famous Views of Edo + Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji) through 1858, the year of his death.
@@artbeets5999 Thanks for your support. It is necessary for all decent human beings have a duty to try to get bullfighting stopped. Never mind arguments about national laws, culture, tradition, jobs, sports etc, all are irrelevant. There is no excuse for animal cruelty and an absolute necessity to get it stopped.
22:31 Okay, wait, that's a really biased viewpoint. What we've actually just been told is this: Vincent threatened one of his friends with a knife (which would be assault with a weapon btw), and then when Gaugin scared him off, Vincent traumatised a poor prostitute by giving her a piece of his own mutilated body. Now, if that had happened today, both Gaugin and the prostitute would have got a restraining order against Vincent, but back in those days, the town realised his behaviour was threatening and dangerous to other people, and ran him off. And friends? Apart from the fact that Vincent basically betrayed his friend by assaulting him with a knife, he started arguments with everyone around him, and was so volatile that people were afraid and avoided him. So, to the town he would actually be known as an angry, argumentative man who attacked someone and terrified a prostitute. So, rather than "Arles loves Van Gogh now but they were cruel to him back then" it's actually "if he had been alive today, the town would have had him committed".
Misschien is het in overweging te nemen veel van die gegoede burgerij in opname te nemen ,want zie wat nu gebeurt zij prikken met naalden 💉 en worden ziek ervan ja zelfs krankjorum zo staat het geschreven en gaan dood 💀 ja de goede burgerij springen blij als de koe verdronken is maar laat voor zich allen de Hel wagenwijd openstaan 🧟♀️🧟🧟♂️😷😷😷🌡💉💊🧬🦠🩸🚿🔬🔮
The custom of cutting the ear off the bull came from Spain to Arles _after_ Van Gogh's time. He wouldn't have seen it performed while attending the bull fights there.
I am imagining that cutting off one's ear would be painful and the wound jagged from hesitation yet Gauguin describes it as clean and close to the skull. More likely Gauguin took it off with his sabre while fending off a distraught Vincent when hearing Gauguin was leaving.
That's what they say in the other BBC documentary, but I think the argument is flawed. Maybe he wouldn't have seen it in Arles but I'm sure that all educated Europeans, including Van Gogh and Gaugin knew about such a spectacularly obscene practice in Spanish bullfighting. People must have talked about in Arles, too, which is not far from Spain. Anyway I find that line of argument as convincing as "He couldn't have possibly known of the existence of the surf board because he was from the Midwest! Q.E.D."
He says, displaying his one remaining ear. I also forgot to mention that Gauguin grew up in an aristocratic family in Peru so the chances that he didn''t talk about bullfighting with Van Gogh in Arles at that time are virtually nill.Also, the bullfighting season was over when VG arrived in Arles so it's painted from memory from some other bullfight: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Ar%C3%A8nes
The bullfighting scene is so shocking. Mentally sick people enjoying the suffering and death of an innocent living being. I enjoyed the documentary until this scene but had to stop it.
There is a BBC documentary about his cutting off his ear - in which, Rachel is discovered to have been a maid. She worked at the brothel. But given his emotional state, perhaps it was all blurred.
Is there a possibility that Gauguin cut off the ear of Van Gogh during the fight and that this later was in such a psychotic state that he could not tell what really happened to the gendarmes and the doctor ?
I mean, its always possible. We are finding out new information about artists everyday. But i guess Because of Vincents schizophrenia and other mental illness's, they've decided he must have done it himself.. and with several ''witnesses'' arguing it was indeed him.
So the question remains, how did Vinny have such a knowledge of Japanese prints? Well he apprenticed in his uncle Mauve's Art Gallery before he ended up in the Seminary as aCalvinist Minister like his father; The explanation about Vinny's self-amputating his ear[lobe] is really a profound interpretation; The mistake Gaugin made was leaving for Arles, but the even bigger mistake was thinking he would be "schooling" Vincent on how to paint. Gaugin learned very quickly that VanGogh had his own ideas, and he had talent.
What about all the amazing roman ruins in and around Arles? They are truly inspiring as well, but maybe not to him. I have never seen a painting by him of these.
Like all genius painters they have emotional problems,davinci,michael angelo,caravaggio etc, vincent was bipolar which is high and low moods coupled that with alcohol he probably did cut his ear off and later on commited suicide.depression effects millions of people all over the world,I guess there wasnt the same medication and help out there during vincents lifetime.I hope hes happy wherever he is and knows how well loved he is and his paintingsxx
It was more than that..he hallucinated and was anxious just from the sounds of the city. His whole body was damaged from lead poisoning and from drinking turpentine.
More likely Gauguin took his ear off with a sabre. Speaking of it Gauguin seemed impressed at the clean cut so close to the skull as if proud that he had taken it off so cleanly. In a letter to Gauguin, Vincent wrote “I will keep quiet about this and so will you.” Van Gogh also mentioned Gauguin in a letter to his brother Theo, noting that it was lucky Gauguin didn't possess any firearms and that he had strong “passions.”
Though Gauguin was an avid fencer, self-defence with a sabre against a razor hardly seems adequate even if they were quite drunk and emotional. Taking his ear clean off like that might seem more logical in a sabre duel which was not the case. In any setting though, moving or not, so precise a stroke so close to a friend's face would entail such exceptional level of skill, premeditated intent and cruelty to make the scenario seem unlikely.
Personally,having read lust for life & stidying Vincent's art& life I don't think he did cut his own ear.It was more likely a drunken argument with Gaugain.Later with the gun shot.Well so sad but how do we know what happened to this great man who gave so much.So much colour to a black & white world.
@@coconuciferanuts339 I'm not sure about that, because Vincent was so self-destructive; in an earlier episode, he had lashed himself on the back for self punishment, and also purposely came home late so as to be locked out all night shivering in the cold. Plus, he has syphilis, which makes you go mad.
I love this series and I hoped this episode would be as good as all the rest, but the story of the ear, the “prostitute” (she wasn’t a prostitute) and Vincent’s motivations given here has been debunked. His behavior toward her may have been tinged with sexual longing, but it was primarily an episode in his long history of religious mania and his desire to give spiritual comfort. It is laid out in great detail in the well researched book Van Gogh’s Ear, a great read for anyone interested in his life and his last years. We owe it to Vincent to get it right.
Human passions plus alcohol turned everything upside down. Vincent had big psychological problems from his youth. His failures with women obviously left deep scars in his mind. His talent was rewarded with recognition after he left this world. Thanks for an interesting presentation.
As always when the Perspective is narrated by you . Like now of Van Gogh it was simply Excellent . The events , locations and people involved are depicted so nicely and explained intelligently by you. Thanks enjoyed the Art when told correctly.
I've heard a theory that Gaugin cut off Vincent's ear during a heated argument and Vincent covered for him, because Gaugin was his only friend. Sounds plausible.
There is an alternate theory. The friend he got in a fight with Gauguin was a fencer. He may have slashed his ear with a sword when they got in a fight and Van Gogh made up the story so his friend wouldn't get arrested.
I thought the same, he certainly protected the person who shot him, the Christian principles of forgiveness and love he was brought up in, along with the distant grieving mother would be major factors
I like this new theory way more than a man slicing off his own ear. Gauguin being a swordsman is actually something that was unknown to me. More research needed. CHEERS
@@antidoteify het is net wie man voor gek wil verslijten , het is net zoiets als wie onschuldig is gooit de eerste steen, nu kan man Soebatten wat men wil over ,waarom werd die steen niet gegooid ? Omdat iedereen wel aan zonde beleving doet ? Of waren zij bang voor de meester himself ,ik denk het laatste wat denkt U ,ik zal het U uitleggen ,want toen de meester weg was gooiden zij tot op heden nog stenen ,plaatsen zij nog steeds mensen in hokken ,niets leuker dan anderen de maat te nemen dat noemen zij brave , of is het een gewoon kippen werk om op de pik orde hoogte te komen alles moet kunnen zelf uitroeien van anders denkenden kun je ook weer een vraag van maken waarom men andersdenkenden voor mad wil verslijten maar wat ik zo vreemd vind is wat is er relevant aan hoe het gebeurt is of door wie ,als men aan die steen denkt weet men het antwoord toch al VAN GOGH ,GOD,JESUS ANDERSDENKENDEN ,zonder kleur valt alles in het niets , dan is alles grauw zoals nu oorlog, Corona,apenpokken, gatver nergens nog kleur te zien zijn allemaal de apenboom in lang leve de muisgrijze apenpakken mooi afgeplakt met een kruisje en roepen met ons allen heil ,het lijkt ook nog veel op het oor die een van Jesus volgelingen bij een soldaat eraf hakte ,en ik denk dat van Gogh dacht als ik dat doe dan komt Jesus hem er weer het oor eraan zetten zo kan het ook geweest zijn toch ?
Och ja ben misschien ook geen makke schaap blert wel eens wat maar tot op heden heb ik mijn pootjes keurig binnen boord gehouden, dus deze rammetje heeft niets misdaan dan alleen voor haar rechten opkomend en dat doet zij graag mondelings ,het liefst face to face 😂👉😇
@21:00 Notice the female figure sitting. Her head is turned in the same direction as Van Gogh's face. Looking a little closer at the sitting girl there is also a white brush stroke only on the right side of her face. The same as on Van Gogh's face. The girl in the background, also with a stick (paint brush?) in her mouth, and more interesting, also has a white brush-stroke (bandage ) on her left cheek. Why only a stick in just the two females: the one in the front and and very back, but not the girl in the middle? Is the girl in the middle Van Gogh's emotional love focus? The painting on the easel shows a blurred sunflower which might depict Van Gogh's artistic subject interest's, but not shown the same interest by his acquaintances. Why the crane with it's beak up and open as to display the motion of speech? Was there a little bird speaking in Van Gogh's ear. Playing with his mind? And the crane's beak at the level of Van Gogh's left (good ear). I believe this was symbolically painted by Van Gogh to symbolize his shunned experience's with women in the brothel. Did he fancy an Asian there? Humm?
I was taught at my primary school that Van Gogh was "insane" from migraines when he cut his ear of. I always thought that was weird because I have migraines myself, and that pain in distinctively in my eye and the area around it. My ears are fine during migraine. However, i never cared to look up the validity of that claim. It makes me wonder what else i was taught that is wrong.
School is about telling people WHAT TO THINK, omitting the things they don’t want you to knowing. Most importantly keeping people away from concept like HOW TO THINK.
Daar in Arles hebben zij een heel groot slachterij neergezet was betaald uit Europees pot het kwam in beeld door dat iemand zo gek was om het te filmen hoe men dieren ( daar afslachten) misschien iets voor het nabije , woensdag gehakt dag ,zou van Gogh gehakt gelust hebben ? Potjandorie wat een vraag weer vandaag 🤔 of is het morgen pas aan het orde even de agenda erbij pakken 2021/2030 slachterij vraag 😱 de schreeuw van Klimt
No doubt borrowed from the sign-off line of the long running TV series, starting in 1958: "Naked City", which Januszczak probably watched when he was a young child?
I thought he cut his ear off to stop the command audio hallucinations. Voices telling him he was a failure , worthless, a broken man. Van Gogh is believed to have been a schizophrenic. I find his art and use of color mesmerizing. I wish he could have know what an inspiration to the world he would become.
you should check out the art being produced by schizos these days. they see the world in enhanced color, almost psychedelic. go to ''art enables'' website, they have a gallery of art for sale produced by mental disables.
I found his videos by accident I love watching these videos I Wonder if Mister Waldemar is interest in Art because of his education or his passion His name and last name sounds polish to me so probably he has Poland born parents ,wonder if he speaks polish language I love dark dutch art I am going to Netherlands 1 day Little did Van Gogh know that after his death so many years to come his painting will be most expensive painting and sold in milions! And I am watching all his videos
I really do wonder about the mental suitability for parenthood amongst those people who choose to take their children to see such barbarity! I agree with you. It must be stopped!
I don’t see any glorification in bullfights, dog fights... cockfighting and the likes. Seeing vulnerable animals suffering cruelty inflicted on them for the sake of entertainment and money is shameful. It should be banned and should be deemed not cultural at all. It’s a cruel world and ... there will be a judgement day for all of mankind.
I tend to believe the theory that Gauguin cut Vincent's ear off during the angry episode. Vincent told authorities he did it to protect his friend Gauguin.
Great story but this portrait is thought by many to be a fake unlike version with pipe. The Sunflowers shown, now in Japan, is also believed to be fake.
I don't think Mary Magdalene is as present in the Protestant world as in the Catholic. She's scarcely mentioned in the Bible and there's a lot less paintings in Protestant churches. At least that's my perspective from growing up Protestant.
Yes, that's true, but Vincent spent a lot of time in Catholic environments. And with his syphilis and synaesthesia, everything becomes jumbled together, flows into each other. We'll never know for sure.
In this self portrait, it shows the right ear bandaged. I always thought it was the left ear that he cut. Please explain why he painted it as the right ear.
It would have been interesting to know more about his childhood because that seems to be the source of his oddness, I can imagine abuse by strict religious parents like the whole he loves his son must beat the sin from him and that sort of stuff, I can see that is why he had a thing for hurting himself later.
Police "thought Vincent had done it" (below) because that is what Gauguin told them, immediately before he hopped on the first train out of town. Then the first boat out of France. Read the letters to Theo, and the testimony of others who knew Gauguin. He was violent, carried an epee with him wherever he went and picked fights all the time. Vincent remarks on his personality when he moved in. He thre the epee in the river before he left town... Gauguin criticized Vincent's art, said it was all terrible, until 1900 when it really started to sell. Then he tried to take credit for Vincent's work, claiming the sunflowers were his idea (Vincent of course had painted most if not all of them before Gauguin showed up in Arles). And he Gauguin, then started painting sunflowers himself. With a huge staring eye in the pedal, the Eye of conscience.
Towards the very end I think he veers into extreme conjecture when he suggests the japanese print and the three Marys, and the ear...I think that is credible, in a way.
The three boats and a briefcase was the best takeaway. Him cutting off his own ear ... not so much ... was he the sacrifice or the executioner ... also in bullfighting, the bull must be dead to remove the ears. The ultimate trofeo would have been two ears and tail ... now that would have been a true sign. Always interesting though.
Yea can you imagine his Paintings in Acrylic paint? I have done Re-enactments of his paintings. Hopefully he wouldn’t have drank it smelling how good it smells.
Paint with whatever you like. It certainly doesn't make you any better than Vincent or Leonardo or Michelangelo. They painted the way they wanted, regardless of your opinion
Like you say, Vincent was nuts. But did you ever or will you ever leave anything behind in this world that was worth more than what he left behind? If you have then you can say that you painted was greater than what he ever did So how come l have never heard of you, or anything you have ever done let alone painted? Do you even know how to hold a paintbrush, let alone what to do with a piece of blank paper?
@@carolineoconnor7685 thank you. Beautiful response to a show of arrogance!! Van Gogh wasn't "nuts." He wasn't well, had issues to deal with and still created with all the love and grace he held in his mind. It wasn't because of his suffering that he had made these works of art, but his determination and focus on recovery and the light at the end of the tunnel is what motivated him to paint. In hoping that things will get better, in channeling all the parts of himself mixed with his environment to depict a stunning array of works that will always have a million stories to share in each stroke and splash of color he has left behind.
I think the narrator is reading too much into the symbolism of the easel and the Japanese print in the background of the painting of Van Gogh with the bandaged ear? They were just items in his room! It makes a good story! I can see the connection of the ear and bullfighting!
I have never heard that explanation for why he cut his ear off. It makes so much sense. And the Christ complex, thank you for an excellent perspective.
This guy is the best…brings art into reality of the artists life and their work…
I agree. Ever since I saw his first documentary my interest in arts tripled.
Funny, I can't stand him. Too many assumptions and presents his theories as fact. Didn't notice he was the narrator. Too bad he narrates so many topics I'm interested in.
The scholar says at the end that there are millions of stories in the world of art; what is more important for me is that he always tells them with a magistral dexterity. Thanks for that.
I read a well researched book on the famous ear being cut off. The author, Bernadette Murphy, says that aside from the fact Gauguin was going to abandon Vincent, he’d also received a letter from his brother, Theo, which said he was getting married. Vincent relied heavily on Theo’s financial support, and he was despondent at the notion that Theo would have a wife and may not be able to continue supporting him. And of course, then Gaugin announced he was leaving, and they quarrelled. It is a distressing episode to read about; Vincent lying in agony, all bloodied, on his bed. The police at first thought Gauguin had attacked him, but Gauguin was just as shocked at this turn of events as they were. The book, “Van Gogh’s Ear”, is well worth reading. Murphy, who lives in France and is fluent in French, did a lot of digging. She found records of who was living in Arles at the time he was there, the staff at the brothel, etc. I recommend it.
All streaks of brilliance has it own madness plus mental illness. Quite unfortunate.
Cops thought Vincent did it because that is what Gauguin told them.
I did a bit of research and reading over a few years.
In some art scholarly circles-
Vincent apparently didn't cut at his own ear. During the argument with Gaugain - Vincent was partially slit on his ear in the tussle.
Vincent was kept at bay as Gaugain had his fencing sword or similar.
Gaugain then left having been attacked.
Vincent left and bled at the ear all night at the brothel.
Awoken by police next morning and lucky not to have perished that night.
He told police he cut his own ear
ie so as to not get his friend Gaugain into trouble.
Vincent's characteristics were unpredictable but his honour of friendship would be so as to protect his friends regardless.
Due to his poverty stricken life and misfortunes- he could always be the bearer of pain and doom.
There is also the story of the menacing kids in Auvers whom were often jaunting Vincent as imitating Cowboys with Guns.
Incidentally the kid who had shot him had kept silent all those years and eventually died
Given the circumstances, he did not want to have his name tarnished as a killer as it would have been the demise of his family name in the village.
Vincent did not want the kid to be blamed and then gone off to the dungeons
Van Gogh personally took the self infliction as a kind of salvation.
Tha pistol which was found a few years back didn't prove much.
The police had no powder fragments on Vincent's fingers at the time of incident.
It's a tragic chain of events leading nowadays to the vast intrigue into his life and his works.
The early 20th century Dealers and Forgers were rife.
In my humble opinion-
Dr Gachet was the key downfall and eventual demise of Vincent's
Slow breakdown.
A consistency of frantic painting to pay for his therapy plus lead poisoning over months of exposure.
The possible sabotage of the very attentive physician who in essence fast tracked the downfall with contaminated absinthe.
Dr Gachet and his heirs also possessed a large stash of the last paintings.
The Physician already knew Art Dealers.
This isn't to say I'm right or more plausible.
Just another viewpoint.
If it weren't for Jo Bonger - the artworks may have been long lost forever.
Sad and Melancholic
Vincent had ran out of supplies in June 1890.
There is one particular painting which reads to me as the artists way - a last curtain falling
*His Writing on The Wall*
Painted in 1890.
I love this guy the way he walk talk and speak he is so over the top.. even the editing is art by itself 😅
This is THE MOST OUTSTANDING series! It has completely changed my perspective, so brilliantly well done. An absolutely amazing series! Thank you!
No. If you know the subject, you also know that his examples of Van Gogh paintings, are known forgeries accoring to experts. I was very impressed by Waldemar in the beginning, then I began to notice how careless he is with facts.
@@Stroheim333 can you provide more details and sources for the forgeries?
A number of experts believe that the Courtauld's self-portrait is a fake. Opinion is sharply divided. Great video. Thank you!
Waldemar is such a wonderful storyteller! I love his films. I have never seen such interesting points of view and similar research as his.
Ever since Waldemar started presenting I for one became more interested in art, his turning his back to us and looking at the subject along with us somehow makes me more interested?
Thank you for a wonderful video . You drew all the strands together. Your teaching is remarkable.
Such a profound story about a great person!
Looking through the comments, and I may have missed it, but no one seems to have caught that "a million stories in the city" is a reference to the last line of semi-documentary, The Naked City, which was then turned into a police/detective series for television. The line from that first film was “There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.” Januszczak is having a bit of fun casting this film as a detective story, and just one of many out there.
Yes - we of a certain age get it...
This what Vincent said to Theo in one letter:"I have a portrait of myself, all ash-coloured. The ashen Gray color that is the result of mixing malachite green with an orange hue, on pale malachite ground, all in harmony with the reddish-brown clothes. But I also exaggerate my personality, I have in the first place aimed at the character of a simple bonze worshipping The Eternal Buddha. It will even be necessary for me to recover somewhat more from the stultifying influence of our so-called state of civilisation in order to have a better model for a better picture." The Japanese know The Eternal Buddha as Nichiren Daishonin, whose Head Temple at Taisekiji is at the foot of Mt Fuji. Vincent Van Gogh was seeking The Eternal Buddha Nichiren Daishonin, whose Buddhism is known as The Buddhism of Sowing, and is represented in Vincent Van Gogh's painting The Sower and the setting Sun.
A better problem would be that the painting is a fake in the first place. The "other" bandaged portrait is true to his art style, the vivid colours and the clean quality of his face. Either way, Van Gogh's life was so tragic and miserable, yet his paintings, even the self portraits, were so vivid and full of life.
You've misinterpreted Kunisada's print. These shini-e prints were used as a commemoration when a famous kabuki actor or ukiyo-e printmaker died. People of Hiroshige's position were given a posthumous Buddhist name as an honor. Often, this honor was reflected in the death print. Hiroshige did not "retire from the world" or become a Buddhist monk, as you suggested. He worked as a printmaker creating his two most famous series (One Hundred Famous Views of Edo + Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji) through 1858, the year of his death.
Your explanation about the Guagan/Van Gogh Ear is fascinating
Another excellent insightful documentary full of detail. My only complaint is the inclusion of the disgusting bullfighting scenes.
Agreed. Disgusting and unnecessary to show.
@@artbeets5999 Thanks for your support.
It is necessary for all decent human beings have a duty to try to get bullfighting stopped. Never mind arguments about national laws, culture, tradition, jobs, sports etc, all are irrelevant.
There is no excuse for animal cruelty and an absolute necessity to get it stopped.
I also agree. Absolutely barbaric, cruel and disgusting on every level.
Turned my stomach too 😢 poor animal😢
I agree about the bullfighting scenes. Things that are happening in the world should not be shown on the Internet!
22:31 Okay, wait, that's a really biased viewpoint. What we've actually just been told is this: Vincent threatened one of his friends with a knife (which would be assault with a weapon btw), and then when Gaugin scared him off, Vincent traumatised a poor prostitute by giving her a piece of his own mutilated body.
Now, if that had happened today, both Gaugin and the prostitute would have got a restraining order against Vincent, but back in those days, the town realised his behaviour was threatening and dangerous to other people, and ran him off.
And friends? Apart from the fact that Vincent basically betrayed his friend by assaulting him with a knife, he started arguments with everyone around him, and was so volatile that people were afraid and avoided him.
So, to the town he would actually be known as an angry, argumentative man who attacked someone and terrified a prostitute.
So, rather than "Arles loves Van Gogh now but they were cruel to him back then" it's actually "if he had been alive today, the town would have had him committed".
Hoe kun je iemand bedreigen als je het in je eigen huis iets gezegd hebt ( misschien meegeluisterd ?)
Misschien is het in overweging te nemen veel van die gegoede burgerij in opname te nemen ,want zie wat nu gebeurt zij prikken met naalden 💉 en worden ziek ervan ja zelfs krankjorum zo staat het geschreven en gaan dood 💀 ja de goede burgerij springen blij als de koe verdronken is maar laat voor zich allen de Hel wagenwijd openstaan 🧟♀️🧟🧟♂️😷😷😷🌡💉💊🧬🦠🩸🚿🔬🔮
My background is not art. This guy has made it accessible and alive to me (rather late in life!).
That's genius for you: cut through the rigamarole to the heart of the matter. Bring out something everyone can understand. And be moved by.
Mel Mo - better late than never and now you've got the time to absorb it all.
The custom of cutting the ear off the bull came from Spain to Arles _after_ Van Gogh's time. He wouldn't have seen it performed while attending the bull fights there.
I am imagining that cutting off one's ear would be painful and the wound jagged from hesitation yet Gauguin describes it as clean and close to the skull. More likely Gauguin took it off with his sabre while fending off a distraught Vincent when hearing Gauguin was leaving.
@@rvllctt871 Gaugin: I''m leaving. VG: I won't hear of it! Gaugin: Not with this ear you won't!
That's what they say in the other BBC documentary, but I think the argument is flawed. Maybe he wouldn't have seen it in Arles but I'm sure that all educated Europeans, including Van Gogh and Gaugin knew about such a spectacularly obscene practice in Spanish bullfighting. People must have talked about in Arles, too, which is not far from Spain. Anyway I find that line of argument as convincing as "He couldn't have possibly known of the existence of the surf board because he was from the Midwest! Q.E.D."
Good knowledge, Horace. Very specialist.
He says, displaying his one remaining ear. I also forgot to mention that Gauguin grew up in an aristocratic family in Peru so the chances that he didn''t talk about bullfighting with Van Gogh in Arles at that time are virtually nill.Also, the bullfighting season was over when VG arrived in Arles so it's painted from memory from some other bullfight: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Ar%C3%A8nes
Thank you for your wonderful presentation and discussions. Excellent !
Die beste Interpretation eines Bildes, die ich je gesehen habe. Toll!
The bullfighting scene is so shocking. Mentally sick people enjoying the suffering and death of an innocent living being. I enjoyed the documentary until this scene but had to stop it.
lol ok
You know what they say about People who enjoy watching animals being tortured .
I hate bull fighting. It disgusts me. But the documentary is brilliant as always with him.
Ik vecht niet vrede is mij lief Art brengt het aan en ik mag af en toe de dotjes plaatsen zo vul je elkaar aan om een beter beeld te krijgen 😲
There is a BBC documentary about his cutting off his ear - in which, Rachel is discovered to have been a maid. She worked at the brothel. But given his emotional state, perhaps it was all blurred.
Is there a possibility that Gauguin cut off the ear of Van Gogh during the fight and that this later was in such a psychotic state that he could not tell what really happened to the gendarmes and the doctor ?
Gaugin was Vincent's only friend (aside from Theo, who was far away). It is plausible Vincent deliberately covered for Gaugin.
I mean, its always possible. We are finding out new information about artists everyday. But i guess Because of Vincents schizophrenia and other mental illness's, they've decided he must have done it himself.. and with several ''witnesses'' arguing it was indeed him.
So the question remains, how did Vinny have such a knowledge of Japanese prints? Well he apprenticed in his uncle Mauve's Art Gallery before he ended up in the Seminary as aCalvinist Minister like his father; The explanation about Vinny's self-amputating his ear[lobe] is really a profound interpretation; The mistake Gaugin made was leaving for Arles, but the even bigger mistake was thinking he would be "schooling" Vincent on how to paint. Gaugin learned very quickly that VanGogh had his own ideas, and he had talent.
The earlobe was all that was left of his ear.
He bought the Japanese prints from Bing's shop in Paris for almost nothing and quickly amassed a huge collection.
@@renelevaillant6601 How funny!!! I was just finished watching the last installment, and learned that!!! --11 mos. later!!!!
What about all the amazing roman ruins in and around Arles? They are truly inspiring as well, but maybe not to him. I have never seen a painting by him of these.
What a great story. Watch to the end. It's worth it.
the end? is there one more episode, i wanta see the crows and he shoots himself. the best pic he made was the crows.
Like all genius painters they have emotional problems,davinci,michael angelo,caravaggio etc, vincent was bipolar which is high and low moods coupled that with alcohol he probably did cut his ear off and later on commited suicide.depression effects millions of people all over the world,I guess there wasnt the same medication and help out there during vincents lifetime.I hope hes happy wherever he is and knows how well loved he is and his paintingsxx
Wat dacht jij zelf Piet Hein , nu kan ik die kruintje niet van dichtbij bekijken ,Eigelijk had ik mij erop verheugd 😥
It was more than that..he hallucinated and was anxious just from the sounds of the city. His whole body was damaged from lead poisoning and from drinking turpentine.
More likely Gauguin took his ear off with a sabre. Speaking of it Gauguin seemed impressed at the clean cut so close to the skull as if proud that he had taken it off so cleanly. In a letter to Gauguin, Vincent wrote “I will keep quiet about this and so will you.” Van Gogh also mentioned Gauguin in a letter to his brother Theo, noting that it was lucky Gauguin didn't possess any firearms and that he had strong “passions.”
Though Gauguin was an avid fencer, self-defence with a sabre against a razor hardly seems adequate even if they were quite drunk and emotional. Taking his ear clean off like that might seem more logical in a sabre duel which was not the case. In any setting though, moving or not, so precise a stroke so close to a friend's face would entail such exceptional level of skill, premeditated intent and cruelty to make the scenario seem unlikely.
Excellent point, I feel the same.
Personally,having read lust for life & stidying Vincent's art& life I don't think he did cut his own ear.It was more likely a drunken argument with Gaugain.Later with the gun shot.Well so sad but how do we know what happened to this great man who gave so much.So much colour to a black & white world.
@@coconuciferanuts339 I'm not sure about that, because Vincent was so self-destructive; in an earlier episode, he had lashed himself on the back for self punishment, and also purposely came home late so as to be locked out all night shivering in the cold. Plus, he has syphilis, which makes you go mad.
No. Van Gogh was mentally unstable. He cut his own ear off.
this is brilliant. tq so much for taking effort and making this video.
I love this series and I hoped this episode would be as good as all the rest, but the story of the ear, the “prostitute” (she wasn’t a prostitute) and Vincent’s motivations given here has been debunked. His behavior toward her may have been tinged with sexual longing, but it was primarily an episode in his long history of religious mania and his desire to give spiritual comfort. It is laid out in great detail in the well researched book Van Gogh’s Ear, a great read for anyone interested in his life and his last years. We owe it to Vincent to get it right.
Brilliant, Waldemar, brilliant!
Human passions plus alcohol turned everything upside down. Vincent had big psychological problems from his youth. His failures with women obviously left deep scars in his mind. His talent was rewarded with recognition after he left this world. Thanks for an interesting presentation.
they knew a schizoid when they saw him.
@@bobs5596 Don’t be an ass.
What a fabulous documentary. Love this guy and his amazing insights.
Thank you, Waldemer. This was enlightening, though sad a story it is. 💐
this channel deserves much more views and attention :) hope you get it in the future :)
Yes, but not many people are into art, at least to this extent.
@@expromanticart6491 I have no artistic ability and precious little art education, but Perspective and Waldemar are fascinating and superb.
As always when the Perspective is narrated by you . Like now of Van Gogh it was simply Excellent . The events , locations and people involved are depicted so nicely and explained intelligently by you. Thanks enjoyed the Art when told correctly.
Fabulous presentation! Thanks so much for your excellent work and insights...
I've heard a theory that Gaugin cut off Vincent's ear during a heated argument and Vincent covered for him, because Gaugin was his only friend. Sounds plausible.
Most interesting talk about my favourite painter🌹
Another delightful scenic journey with Van Gogh and Narrator, the finest ,,,,
I am such a huge fan of this channel!!!!! Mastery!!!
There is an alternate theory. The friend he got in a fight with Gauguin was a fencer. He may have slashed his ear with a sword when they got in a fight and Van Gogh made up the story so his friend wouldn't get arrested.
could be, good therory, a better take than the usual pitty for a mad man.
I thought the same, he certainly protected the person who shot him, the Christian principles of forgiveness and love he was brought up in, along with the distant grieving mother would be major factors
I like this new theory way more than a man slicing off his own ear. Gauguin being a swordsman is actually something that was unknown to me. More research needed. CHEERS
@@antidoteify Great compassion there, pal.
@@antidoteify het is net wie man voor gek wil verslijten , het is net zoiets als wie onschuldig is gooit de eerste steen, nu kan man Soebatten wat men wil over ,waarom werd die steen niet gegooid ? Omdat iedereen wel aan zonde beleving doet ? Of waren zij bang voor de meester himself ,ik denk het laatste wat denkt U ,ik zal het U uitleggen ,want toen de meester weg was gooiden zij tot op heden nog stenen ,plaatsen zij nog steeds mensen in hokken ,niets leuker dan anderen de maat te nemen dat noemen zij brave , of is het een gewoon kippen werk om op de pik orde hoogte te komen alles moet kunnen zelf uitroeien van anders denkenden kun je ook weer een vraag van maken waarom men andersdenkenden voor mad wil verslijten maar wat ik zo vreemd vind is wat is er relevant aan hoe het gebeurt is of door wie ,als men aan die steen denkt weet men het antwoord toch al VAN GOGH ,GOD,JESUS ANDERSDENKENDEN ,zonder kleur valt alles in het niets , dan is alles grauw zoals nu oorlog, Corona,apenpokken, gatver nergens nog kleur te zien zijn allemaal de apenboom in lang leve de muisgrijze apenpakken mooi afgeplakt met een kruisje en roepen met ons allen heil ,het lijkt ook nog veel op het oor die een van Jesus volgelingen bij een soldaat eraf hakte ,en ik denk dat van Gogh dacht als ik dat doe dan komt Jesus hem er weer het oor eraan zetten zo kan het ook geweest zijn toch ?
Preacher's kids have wild reputations and there is some truth to it.
Och ja ben misschien ook geen makke schaap blert wel eens wat maar tot op heden heb ik mijn pootjes keurig binnen boord gehouden, dus deze rammetje heeft niets misdaan dan alleen voor haar rechten opkomend en dat doet zij graag mondelings ,het liefst face to face 😂👉😇
Amazing, absolutely fascinating. Thanks so much
I think I'm falling for this guy.
You tell a great Story, i enjoyed listing to your Video,s thanks for sharing,
Wow. Very interesting and informative.😀
@21:00 Notice the female figure sitting. Her head is turned in the same direction as Van Gogh's face. Looking a little closer at the sitting girl there is also a white brush stroke only on the right side of her face. The same as on Van Gogh's face. The girl in the background, also with a stick (paint brush?) in her mouth, and more interesting, also has a white brush-stroke (bandage ) on her left cheek. Why only a stick in just the two females: the one in the front and and very back, but not the girl in the middle? Is the girl in the middle Van Gogh's emotional love focus? The painting on the easel shows a blurred sunflower which might depict Van Gogh's artistic subject interest's, but not shown the same interest by his acquaintances. Why the crane with it's beak up and open as to display the motion of speech? Was there a little bird speaking in Van Gogh's ear. Playing with his mind? And the crane's beak at the level of Van Gogh's left (good ear). I believe this was symbolically painted by Van Gogh to symbolize his shunned experience's with women in the brothel. Did he fancy an Asian there? Humm?
Refreshing little doc about Van Gogh, Waldemar is the best.
I was taught at my primary school that Van Gogh was "insane" from migraines when he cut his ear of. I always thought that was weird because I have migraines myself, and that pain in distinctively in my eye and the area around it. My ears are fine during migraine. However, i never cared to look up the validity of that claim. It makes me wonder what else i was taught that is wrong.
You believe anything your spoon fed.
School is about telling people WHAT TO THINK, omitting the things they don’t want you to knowing.
Most importantly keeping people away from concept like HOW TO THINK.
Great video as always 😊
beautiful series, segments done by mr. Januszczak r marvel
This video was so great. Really insightful to his life there in Arles
00000000000
Daar in Arles hebben zij een heel groot slachterij neergezet was betaald uit Europees pot het kwam in beeld door dat iemand zo gek was om het te filmen hoe men dieren ( daar afslachten) misschien iets voor het nabije , woensdag gehakt dag ,zou van Gogh gehakt gelust hebben ? Potjandorie wat een vraag weer vandaag 🤔 of is het morgen pas aan het orde even de agenda erbij pakken 2021/2030 slachterij vraag 😱 de schreeuw van Klimt
There are several different conjectures on what happened with Van Gogh regarding his ear and his death. Who knows which one is accurate?
Probably the man who has studied it, obviously deeply enough to make a video about it that is extremely well put together....I would imagine
@@ndavis7789 There are several of those, as well as several published authors on the topic.
Music at 10:35, please? Thank you
Wow. There are a million stories in the world of art. This has been just one of them.
No doubt borrowed from the sign-off line of the long running TV series, starting in 1958: "Naked City", which Januszczak probably watched when he was a young child?
thank you waldemar, you are enlighted
Always enjoy his commentaries -- thank you!
I hope that heaven received Vincent with healing and comfort for his soul.
Who painted the 'Penitent Magdalene' shown at 11:45?
I thought he cut his ear off to stop the command audio hallucinations. Voices telling him he was a failure , worthless, a broken man. Van Gogh is believed to have been a schizophrenic. I find his art and use of color mesmerizing. I wish he could have know what an inspiration to the world he would become.
Schizophrenics don't cut their ears off. Voices from within aren't like tinnitus.
you should check out the art being produced by schizos these days. they see the world in enhanced color, almost psychedelic. go to ''art enables'' website, they have a gallery of art for sale produced by mental disables.
Nick van der Leek has written a book , “ The Murder of Vincent Van Gogh “.
I found his videos by accident
I love watching these videos
I Wonder if Mister Waldemar is interest in Art because of his education or his passion
His name and last name sounds polish to me so probably he has Poland born parents ,wonder if he speaks polish language
I love dark dutch art
I am going to Netherlands 1 day
Little did Van Gogh know that after his death so many years to come his painting will be most expensive painting and sold in milions!
And I am watching all his videos
You are amazing thank you and your team
Bull fighting is a sick and twisted crime, for the benefit of sick and twisted people.
I really do wonder about the mental suitability for parenthood amongst those people who choose to take their children to see such barbarity! I agree with you. It must be stopped!
I don’t see any glorification in bullfights, dog fights... cockfighting and the likes. Seeing vulnerable animals suffering cruelty inflicted on them for the sake of entertainment and money is shameful. It should be banned and should be deemed not cultural at all. It’s a cruel world and ... there will be a judgement day for all of mankind.
I tend to believe the theory that Gauguin cut Vincent's ear off during the angry episode. Vincent told authorities he did it to protect his friend Gauguin.
Brilliantly told.
I am so sorry for what you had to go through
Great story but this portrait is thought by many to be a fake unlike version with pipe. The Sunflowers shown, now in Japan, is also believed to be fake.
The Sunflowers in Japan certainly is a fake. It looks all wrong and Vincent does not mention it in his letters to Theo.
Very interesting thank you
15:00 is the Yasuda sunflowers which Vincent didn't sign or write about ever.
Every time I see this piece it's a little greener. Cause chrome yellow is bullshit :/
Is this one the 3rd in the Vincent history ?
WOW! This video deserves 280,000 LIKES not 2,800.
Is it true Vincent ate his paint or licked his brushes?
Poor guy. If it wasn't for bad luck, he wouldn't have no luck at all.
It may be just a speculation, I like his theory and narration.
I don't think Mary Magdalene is as present in the Protestant world as in the Catholic. She's scarcely mentioned in the Bible and there's a lot less paintings in Protestant churches. At least that's my perspective from growing up Protestant.
Yes, that's true, but Vincent spent a lot of time in Catholic environments. And with his syphilis and synaesthesia, everything becomes jumbled together, flows into each other. We'll never know for sure.
I love that they filmed on a very typical dutch day. Just grey.
In this self portrait, it shows the right ear bandaged. I always thought it was the left ear that he cut. Please explain why he painted it as the right ear.
He did cut the left ear, but it’s a self-portrait, so he’s looking at himself in a mirror and painting a mirror image.
It would have been interesting to know more about his childhood because that seems to be the source of his oddness, I can imagine abuse by strict religious parents like the whole he loves his son must beat the sin from him and that sort of stuff, I can see that is why he had a thing for hurting himself later.
Police "thought Vincent had done it" (below) because that is what Gauguin told them, immediately before he hopped on the first train out of town. Then the first boat out of France. Read the letters to Theo, and the testimony of others who knew Gauguin. He was violent, carried an epee with him wherever he went and picked fights all the time. Vincent remarks on his personality when he moved in. He thre the epee in the river before he left town... Gauguin criticized Vincent's art, said it was all terrible, until 1900 when it really started to sell. Then he tried to take credit for Vincent's work, claiming the sunflowers were his idea (Vincent of course had painted most if not all of them before Gauguin showed up in Arles). And he Gauguin, then started painting sunflowers himself. With a huge staring eye in the pedal, the Eye of conscience.
Is it a mirroring picture, was it his left or right ear ???
Towards the very end I think he veers into extreme conjecture when he suggests the japanese print and the three Marys, and the ear...I think that is credible, in a way.
I get the need for hype in order to drum up interest by creating drama which maintains value, But Infamous? What would the artist think
Brilliant! There's just no way that he could be wrong.
Seriously? Are you being sarcastic?
The three boats and a briefcase was the best takeaway. Him cutting off his own ear ... not so much ... was he the sacrifice or the executioner ... also in bullfighting, the bull must be dead to remove the ears. The ultimate trofeo would have been two ears and tail ... now that would have been a true sign. Always interesting though.
In another programme you say “ Mary the har·lot “ 😂 still makes me laugh.
I paint with Acrylic paint, there’s so many colors.
Ah! If Vincent has had acrylic paint he wouldn't have cut his hear.. ..lol
Yea can you imagine his Paintings in Acrylic paint? I have done Re-enactments of his paintings. Hopefully he wouldn’t have drank it smelling how good it smells.
Paint with whatever you like. It certainly doesn't make you any better than Vincent or Leonardo or Michelangelo. They painted the way they wanted, regardless of your opinion
So many ads! Ruining a sublime subject matter !
Walden are, I have missed your art shows on t.v.
The more I hear this guy talk about van gogh, the more I think he had something like borderline personality disorder.
Brilliant
Ok, we have determined that Vincent was nuts. We just never quite knew how nuts.
Like you say, Vincent was nuts. But did you ever or will you ever leave anything behind in this world that was worth more than what he left behind? If you have then you can say that you painted was greater than what he ever did
So how come l have never heard of you, or anything you have ever done let alone painted? Do you even know how to hold a paintbrush, let alone what to do with a piece of blank paper?
@@carolineoconnor7685 thank you. Beautiful response to a show of arrogance!! Van Gogh wasn't "nuts." He wasn't well, had issues to deal with and still created with all the love and grace he held in his mind. It wasn't because of his suffering that he had made these works of art, but his determination and focus on recovery and the light at the end of the tunnel is what motivated him to paint. In hoping that things will get better, in channeling all the parts of himself mixed with his environment to depict a stunning array of works that will always have a million stories to share in each stroke and splash of color he has left behind.
I like this explanation... it is very logical!🙏 everything in Christianity seems to be about unsolved problem of Sexualitty...and control over it...!
Good vid on our greatest artist but I heard that Gauguin might have cut off Vincent's ear with a knive.
This was an amazing documentary on the painting. But it turns out the painting is suspected to be a fake.
I think the narrator is reading too much into the symbolism of the easel and the Japanese print in the background of the painting of Van Gogh with the bandaged ear? They were just items in his room! It makes a good story! I can see the connection of the ear and bullfighting!
Van Gogh seems to be the artist everyone knows about. But has anyone ever understood him?
He was mentally deranged and so it’s doubtful if anyone understood him apart from his brother?