Van Gogh's doctor's note found at UC Berkeley

The note, now on loan from the Bancroft, goes on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam this Friday as part of an exhibit titled “On the Verge of Insanity.”

For a book on the Dutch master’s mutilated ear, British author Bernadette Murphy needed to clear up confusion about the extent of the damage the artist inflicted on himself in 1888. So she rang up the Bancroft, which held Stone’s archives.

For the full story, visit: http://news.berkeley.edu/2016/07/12/s...

Library assistant David Kessler searched through an uncataloged box devoted to Lust for Life, and finally retrieved a signed letter from Van Gogh’s doctor with a sketch of his left ear detailing the self-mutilation, which attested to the fact that the artist removed all but the earlobe.

That tale and more are now revealed in the newly published book Van Gogh’s Ear: The True Story (Chatto & Windus, London), which was discussed today at a press conference at the museum. The letter is also the centerpiece of a new PBS documentary on the artist that will premiere later this month, and which is based on Murphy’s book.

Video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Stephen McNally

Music credits: "I Need to Start Writing Things Down" and
"The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan" by Chris Zabriskie

Painting credits in order of appearance:

Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait as a Painter, 1887 - 1888
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London
Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Dr Félix Rey, oil on canvas, January 1889, The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

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