Vincent Van Gogh- Crazy as a Loon

December 23, 2023- Saturday

Why write about Vincent van Gogh?  An artist who was not known during his time whose paintings became valuable after his death.  Why bother about him not in the context of his paintings?  According to the history we have, van Gogh cut off his ear on this date in 1888.  One historical account notes he may not have cut off his own ear and that it was severed in an ill-advised fight.  That account certainly doesn't lend itself to such flamboyance as the account that van Gogh cut it off himself.  That's much more fun to read.  It's what happened afterwards that is interesting.  

He wrapped up his newly severed ear and presented to a woman who promptly feinted.  Rumor has it she was a frequented prostitute, but she may not have been.  Again, the story is better if she was a prostitute.  Van Gogh painted a self-portrait showing his bandaged ear and then admitted himself to an insane asylum.  That leads to my main question.

Why do you have to be crazy to recognized for off the charts talent? Van Gogh's paintings were in a world of their own, as apparently was he.  We reward high talents in our society only to find out their mental capacities are compromised.  Many of them make vast sums of money because of the public's obsession with them.  Then we find them in compromised life situations and wonder what's wrong with them.  

Is it our education system? Are the lifestyles we live today promoting strange aberrant behavior? What makes the eccentric, eccentric? Why are we so interested in those who are obsessed with something?  Why do we watch car crash videos? Why do we watch videos of people falling awkwardly and hurting themselves? Are we all just a little bit crazy and simply find ways to control our crazy?  I know I could probably read some psychological treatise on the behavior of the highly talented and get some hard-core opinions about these people.  What's the fun in that?  Many of the psychological types are living on a different limb themselves.  What makes them find those limbs?  

I guess the one thing van Gogh taught us was to never cut off your ear and give it to someone.  People will think you're crazy.