Vincent van Gogh: Biography, Ear Incident, and Death

Vincent van Gogh’s life is a story most people know in fragments: a severed ear, a starry sky, a suicide in a wheat field. But the gaps between those fragments — what exactly happened, why, and what the man himself actually believed — are often filled with myth. This article goes back to the primary sources, including his own letters, to separate what is documented from what remains a riddle.

Born: 30 March 1853, Zundert, Netherlands ·
Died: 29 July 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, France ·
Known for: Post-Impressionist painting ·
Artworks produced: Over 2,100, including about 860 oil paintings ·
Famous works: Starry Night, Sunflowers, The Bedroom ·
Sold during lifetime: Only one painting known sold: The Red Vineyard

Six key biographical facts, one pattern: the man who would become the world’s most famous post-Impressionist lived a life of extreme contrasts – artistic brilliance and personal crisis, deep faith and institutional rejection, a longing for love that never found a home.

The implication: Van Gogh’s most famous works were created during periods of intense personal turmoil, and the primary source record – his letters – is as rich as the paintings themselves.

Why did Van Gogh cut off his ear and who did he give it?

On the night of 23 December 1888, after a heated argument with the painter Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh took a razor and severed part of his left ear – not the entire ear, but the lobe, according to the most widely accepted account (CBS News report). He then wrapped the piece in newspaper and walked to a nearby brothel, where he gave it to a woman named Rachel (Van Gogh Museum FAQ). The next morning, police found him at home and took him to hospital (Van Gogh Museum).

Did Van Gogh cut off his whole ear? Or only a part?

The historical record is clear that only the lobe of the left ear was severed. The artist’s self-portrait with bandaged ear, painted in 1889, shows the bandage covering the lower part of the ear (Wikipedia on the painting). Because he painted using a mirror, the bandage appears on the wrong side in the image – a clue that confirms the injury was to the left ear.

Did they reattach Van Gogh’s ear?

No. The ear was not reattached. The wound healed, but the incident marked a turning point in his mental health, leading to his admission to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy in 1889 (Mental Floss article).

The pattern: The ear incident is often treated as a single shocking act, but the build-up – loneliness, poverty, the collapse of his dream to found an artist colony in Arles with Gauguin – mattered more than the moment itself.

Why did Vincent van Gogh shoot himself?

On 27 July 1890, Van Gogh walked into a wheat field near Auvers-sur-Oise and shot himself in the chest. He managed to walk back to the inn where he was staying and died two days later, on 29 July, at about 1:30 a.m. (PubMed medical history). His brother Theo, who had been his lifelong supporter, was at his bedside (Wikipedia biography).

What did Van Gogh say before he died?

The most widely reported last words, as recorded by Theo in a letter to his wife, were: “La tristesse durera toujours” – “The sadness will last forever” (Wikipedia death account). Some sources attribute the phrase to Van Gogh himself, while others note that Theo’s letter may have paraphrased the sentiment. The exact wording remains a matter of historical variation.

The trade-off: If the death was not suicide, the story of the “tortured artist” loses its most dramatic endpoint – but the letters and his own actions still point to a man in deep psychological distress.

What are 5 interesting facts about Vincent van Gogh?

• Van Gogh created over 2,100 artworks in just over a decade, including about 860 oil paintings and 1,100 drawings (Vincent Van Gogh Gallery biography).
• He sold only one painting during his lifetime: The Red Vineyard (Britannica).
• His brother Theo was his primary supporter and correspondent; more than 800 letters between them survive (Van Gogh Museum).
• After the ear incident, he voluntarily admitted himself to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy (Mental Floss).
• His most famous painting, The Starry Night, was created while he was a patient at that asylum (Wikipedia).

Why this matters: The gap between his obscurity in life and his posthumous fame is one of the largest in art history – a fact that colours how we interpret each of his biographical details.

Did Vincent van Gogh believe in Jesus?

Van Gogh was raised in a Protestant minister’s family and, in his early twenties, felt a strong calling to serve the church. He worked as a missionary in the Borinage coal mining region of Belgium, living among the poor and preaching to miners (Britannica biography). His letters reveal a deep but unorthodox faith: he admired Jesus as an artist figure and a sufferer, rather than as a doctrinal saviour. In a letter to Theo from 1877, he wrote: “I feel a kind of longing for belief” (Wikipedia religious views). After his missionary period, he drifted from organized religion but maintained a spiritual outlook that infused his art.

The catch: The man who wanted to be a preacher ended up finding his pulpit in paint – and his most famous works are filled with a kind of awe that is hard to separate from the religious.

Did Van Gogh ever marry?

Van Gogh never married. His romantic life was marked by a series of painful episodes: rejection by his cousin Kee Vos, a volatile relationship with the pregnant prostitute Sien Hoornik, and a brief affair with his landlady’s daughter, Agostina Segatori (Britannica biography). All ended unhappily, deepening his isolation. His letters to Theo frequently express a longing for companionship and family.

Did Van Gogh ever fall in love?

Yes, repeatedly – and each time the outcome was rejection or heartbreak. The most documented relationship was with Sien Hoornik, a prostitute who modelled for him and whom he lived with for about a year. His family disapproved, and the relationship ended, partly because of his inability to support her financially (Wikipedia relationships).

The implication: Van Gogh’s failure to build a stable personal life was not for lack of trying – it was a pattern of emotional intensity that institutions and economics could not accommodate.

Timeline

• 1853 – Birth in Zundert, Netherlands (Britannica)
• 1869–1876 – Works for art dealers Goupil & Cie (Wikipedia)
• 1878–1880 – Missionary work in Borinage; begins drawing (Britannica)
• 1886–1888 – Moves to Paris; meets Impressionists; develops his style (Wikipedia)
• 1888 – Moves to Arles; ear incident in December (Van Gogh Museum)
• 1889–1890 – Admitted to Saint-Rémy asylum; paints The Starry Night (Mental Floss)
• July 1890 – Dies from gunshot wound in Auvers-sur-Oise (PubMed)

The timeline shows that Van Gogh’s entire artistic output, including his masterpieces, was compressed into roughly the last decade of his life.

What is confirmed, what is still unclear

The pattern: even the most iconic episodes in Van Gogh’s life—the ear and the death—contain significant uncertainties that challenge the simplified myth.

Quotes from Van Gogh’s letters and last words

“I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process.”

– Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo, July 1888 (Wikipedia)

“The sadness will last forever.”

– Reported last words, as recorded by brother Theo (Wikipedia)

“I feel a kind of longing for belief.”

– Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo, 1877 (Wikipedia religious views)

Van Gogh also wrote: “What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity, an eccentric, an unpleasant person.” (letter to Theo, 1888, per Wikipedia).

The thread running through these quotes: a man who saw himself clearly, felt deeply, and expressed his pain with a directness that still cuts across a century.

Summary

For anyone reading about Van Gogh, the choice between the myth and the documented record is not academic – it determines whether we see a helpless victim of madness or a remarkably disciplined artist who produced hundreds of masterpieces despite overwhelming personal adversity. The evidence from his letters and contemporary accounts leans toward the latter: a man who was deeply unhappy, but never lost his grip on his work. For the art lover or the curious reader, the lesson is clear: trust the primary sources, or accept the legend at the cost of understanding the man.

Frequently asked questions

The FAQ section underscores that many common questions have clear answers, while others remain open to interpretation.

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