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News & ArtsTuesday, May 5, 2009
Visual Art You May Not Like Gauguin, But He Didn't Do It
Posted by Jen Graves on Tue, May 5, 2009 at 4:12 PM
Martin Gayford, Bloomberg critic and author of the book The Yellow House (about Gauguin and van Gogh living together in Provence), calls bullshit on the Germans who claim that Gauguin was the one who cut van Gogh's ear off.
This is not the first time it has been suggested that Gauguin might have been the aggressor in this odd art couple. The psychological motive for the suspicion is, I suspect, that many people don’t like Gauguin, and identify with the suffering Van Gogh. That’s the reverse of the effect the two men had in reality. Quite a few contemporaries liked and admired Gauguin; almost everybody, including his brother Theo when they lived together, found Van Gogh’s company unbearable.
This doubleness is so true. For the most part I can't stand Gauguin's paintings, and van Gogh's I can't resist. Still, van Gogh's vulnerability doesn't really benefit from the idea that Gauguin was the aggressor; that would just make van Gogh seem like the victim of something as boring as another man, rather than the victim of himself.
2
I hate Gauguin as much as the next art nerd, but this story really seemed too good to be true.
I must say, though, that my Gauguin-hate stems more from his interest in Tahitian child brides than from his bizarre relationship with van Gogh.
I must say, though, that my Gauguin-hate stems more from his interest in Tahitian child brides than from his bizarre relationship with van Gogh.
3
I kinda like Gauguin. It's not his fault his style has become so similar with what we might associate with hotel wall decor these days. In related news, I think we'll actually appreciate Nagel one day.
5
Wait, did I miss something? How does public perception of Gauguin have anything to do with whether or not he cut off Van Gogh's ear?
If Van Gogh really was such a douchebag, doesn't that make it MORE probable that Gauguin finally had enough of his shit and cut him?
If Van Gogh really was such a douchebag, doesn't that make it MORE probable that Gauguin finally had enough of his shit and cut him?
6
@3, I spit my coffee out at "Nagel". How can we forget him, when his artistic style lingers on, painted on the glass door of every nail salon in America?
I guess I'm weird. I like some of Gauguin's paintings OK (though he's far from my favorite), but am indifferent to Van Gock, as the Brits love calling him.
I guess I'm weird. I like some of Gauguin's paintings OK (though he's far from my favorite), but am indifferent to Van Gock, as the Brits love calling him.
7
If you watch the movie Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) the impression you get is not a person who is crazy, but a person who is eventually driven crazy by the incredible denseness of his countrymen.
All Van Gogh did was go out to his family's fields and paint people haying, and then say, see...look...
All Van Gogh did was go out to his family's fields and paint people haying, and then say, see...look...
8
I was under the impression Van Gogh cut off his own ear as a present for a hooker. Were my mother's art history books wrong?
9
According to Somerset Maugham's book The Moon and Sixpence, Gauguin was an asshole. But most likely the deepest, most interesting asshole you've ever met.
Probably a lot of creative license and historical fiction there, but it's still a really interesting character study.
Probably a lot of creative license and historical fiction there, but it's still a really interesting character study.
11
I WILL DEFEND IN THIS INSTALLMENT OF 'LAWOFMOREHOTTIEZ DABAITS SELF' THE POSITION OF GOGGIN, JUST CUZ I LIKE LIFE INTERESTING.
GOGGIN > VANGO, HENCE, ITEMIZED LIST:
1. GOGGIN WUZ RICHER
2. GOGGIN WUZ SMARTERR
3. VANGO DID NOT LIK YOUNG TAHITIANS (STRIKE AGIN GOGGIN)
3A. SO WHUT? GOGGIN AIN'T A PLAYA, HE JUS KRUSH A LOT.
3B. SO WHAT? GOGGIN NEVAH DISRESPECT NO HOE'S THAT DON'T OWE HIZ MONEY.
3C. IT IS INDEFENSIBLE, POINT 3 CONCEDED
4. GOGGIN WAS A DEVULL! (IN A PAINTING)
5. VANGO WUZ NUT A KKKOLONIALIST PIGGY (STRIKE TOO)
5A. SO WHUT? WE R ALL RASCISTZ (SEE RESIDENT EVUL 5, FOXY NEWS, LORDER)
5B. SO WHAT? HIZ PPL WERE DA REAL CULPRITS.
6. GOGGIN WUZ A SENSUALIST. DIS MEANS HE WAS OBVI WAYYY COOOLER THAN VANGO. IT WOULD BE LIKE IF HUNTAH ES THOMPSON WUZ LIKE 'YO, IMMA PAINT SO PIX TOO, AN GO TO TAHITI' BOOM. THAT'S WHAT GOGGIN IS.
GOGGIN > VANGO, HENCE, ITEMIZED LIST:
1. GOGGIN WUZ RICHER
2. GOGGIN WUZ SMARTERR
3. VANGO DID NOT LIK YOUNG TAHITIANS (STRIKE AGIN GOGGIN)
3A. SO WHUT? GOGGIN AIN'T A PLAYA, HE JUS KRUSH A LOT.
3B. SO WHAT? GOGGIN NEVAH DISRESPECT NO HOE'S THAT DON'T OWE HIZ MONEY.
3C. IT IS INDEFENSIBLE, POINT 3 CONCEDED
4. GOGGIN WAS A DEVULL! (IN A PAINTING)
5. VANGO WUZ NUT A KKKOLONIALIST PIGGY (STRIKE TOO)
5A. SO WHUT? WE R ALL RASCISTZ (SEE RESIDENT EVUL 5, FOXY NEWS, LORDER)
5B. SO WHAT? HIZ PPL WERE DA REAL CULPRITS.
6. GOGGIN WUZ A SENSUALIST. DIS MEANS HE WAS OBVI WAYYY COOOLER THAN VANGO. IT WOULD BE LIKE IF HUNTAH ES THOMPSON WUZ LIKE 'YO, IMMA PAINT SO PIX TOO, AN GO TO TAHITI' BOOM. THAT'S WHAT GOGGIN IS.
12
This is some very sexy stuff to speculate about. I just love how Van Gogh wintered in Provence hoping to escape the depressing (to him) Paris winter, not understanding that Provence is bleak, windswept, and eerily dead in the wintertime. I'd put forward the idea that the weather and landscape were just as instrumental to Van Gogh's crazy behavior as his stormy relationship with Gauguin.
13
Wait I am a bonafide art nerd and I would kind of lean in the Gaugin direction, certainly don't see why an art nerd is supposed to hate him. Any knowledge of his post stockbroker biography? A good sordid drunken tale it is. I must admit a perverse fascination with all (or most) things colonial though as well as the excesses (asthetic and otherwise) of the fin de siecle.
14
The question isn't who's the better artist--we have the answer to that, right? A question is, who was crazier. Before antibiotics.
15
I'm with Rhizome. I'm not an art nerd, but I like art, and I like Gaugin a lot. This is the first I've heard that he was considered not good, or even not "really good". To me this is kind of ridiculous. Since when?
I like Van Gogh too, but Gaugin is more up my alley. The one exception is his pretentious "Where do we come from etc." painting.
On another note, I had also heard that Van Gogh went crazy because he ate his paint. Just another rumor to toss in.
I like Van Gogh too, but Gaugin is more up my alley. The one exception is his pretentious "Where do we come from etc." painting.
On another note, I had also heard that Van Gogh went crazy because he ate his paint. Just another rumor to toss in.
16
Two horny and drunk and far out crazy Frenchies and a whore - there are no limits.
Love both as artists. Gaugin must be seen in real canvass, striking.
Love both as artists. Gaugin must be seen in real canvass, striking.
17
Nagel rules! I love that creepy pasty faced family that stares out from every hair salon in the country!
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