Hidden Van Gogh self-portrait behind painting discovered after 100 years: How the artist continues to intrigue us

It’s been 122-odd years that Vincent Van Gogh died and we still can’t stop talking about him.

Recently, the National Galleries of Scotland announced that they had discovered a previously unknown self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, with his ear intact, hidden behind another painting.

The portrait was found on the back of the canvas of the Dutch post-Impressionist’s 1885 work “Head of a Peasant Woman”, covered by layers of glue and cardboard.

The self-portrait, revealed during an X-ray, shows a bearded sitter in a brimmed hat with a neckerchief tied loosely at the neck. It was completed before Van Gogh cut off his left ear in 1888.

Lesley Stevenson, senior paintings conservator at the National Galleries, said they were “thrilled to bits” at the find.

“When we saw the X-ray for the first time of course we were hugely excited,” she was quoted as saying, adding “This is a significant discovery because it adds to what we already know about Van Gogh’s life.”

The painting adds to the intrigue that surrounds the life of Van Gogh, who is today considered as one of the greatest artists of all times.

Cutting off his ear

It is a well-known fact that Vincent Van Gogh chopped off his ear in December 1888 while living in Arles in Provence, France.

However, the artist’s ear has been an object of fascination for years, leading historians to come up with all sorts of different theories about why exactly the 19th century Dutch artist cut off a piece of his own auditory organ.

In fact, his self-mutilation also served as inspiration for his Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear.

The most widely accepted account is that Van Gogh cut off his ear lobe in a fit of mania after getting in a fight with fellow artist Paul Gauguin, and then gave it to a prostitute named Rachel as a token of affection.

However, another narrative put forth by Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans in their 2009 book, Pact of Silence, assumes that Gauguin disfigured his friend with a sword. Basing their theory on passages in Van Gogh's letters to his brother, Theo, they suggest that the two artists agreed never to mention the matter further.

There’s also another claim, made by Martin Bailey — a British Van Gogh specialist — that mentions that the artist sliced off his entire ear with a razor blade after learning the news that his brother Theo was engaged.

The mystery of Starry Night

After experiencing a mental breakdown in the winter of 1888, Van Gogh, who is reported to have suffered from acute depression, checked himself in to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.

It is here that he painted what is today described as a timeless masterpiece and is worth billions of dollars — The Starry Night.

During his time in the asylum, where he got two rooms — one was his bedroom, the other a painting studio, he created 142 paintings.

The painting with its seductive swirls, intoxicating composition, and enchanting colour palette, is believed to be his view from his room’s window of the asylum.

However, some believe that the painting was about mortality. The dark spires in the foreground are cypress trees, plants most often associated with cemeteries and death. This connection gives a special significance to this van Gogh quote, “Looking at the stars always makes me dream. Why, I ask myself, shouldn't the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star.”

Van Gogh’s death

Just like his life, his death too is shrouded in mystery.

The story goes that on 29 July 1890 after he spent nearly a year in the asylum, Van Gogh returned to the inn where he lived, after nightfall, probably around 9 pm, holding his stomach.

When he show up, the family owning the inn was worried about his condition and asked if everything was fine.

Van Gogh started to answer with difficulty, “No, but I have...” as he climbed the stairs up to his room. When the owner asked whether he was ill, van Gogh showed him a wound near his heart explaining: “I tried to kill myself.”

During the night, Van Gogh admitted he had set out for the wheat field where he had recently been painting. During the afternoon he had shot himself with a revolver and passed out. Revived by the coolness of the evening, he had tried in vain to find the revolver to complete the act. He then returned to the inn. After two days he died.

However, in 2011 two American writers, Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, debunked this version of events, writing that Van Gogh was shot in the abdomen on 27 July 1890 by 16-year-old René Secrétan, a summer visitor in Auvers-sur-Oise who taunted the artist. In their version, he managed to stagger back to his inn, dying two days later from his wounds.

The authors reason that Vincent had become friends with a local boy, Gaston Secrétan, who wished to be a painter. They say that the friendship was a tonic to Van Gogh’s troubles, and for that, the artist was happy to endure the endless pranks and teasing of Gaston’s younger brother René.

The authors in their book stated that René Secrétan and other local lads would mock Van Gogh for his appearance and one day, the boy then shot him mistakenly while dressed as a cowboy.

This version of events, however, hasn’t been accepted by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Leo Jansen, the then curator of the Van Gogh Museum told the Associated Press, “We cannot yet agree with their conclusions because we do not think there is enough evidence yet.”

Whether his death was self-induced or murder, one can’t argue about the success of Vincent Van Gogh.

Today, his artworks are sold for millions at auctions and there’s even a travelling interactive exhibit called Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience where people pay to sit amid animated reproductions of his work. You can buy all kinds of knick-knacks — T-shirts, posters, mouse pads, etc — with his face or his paintings emblazoned across them. Everyone instantly knows paintings like Starry Night whether they’re particularly interested in art or not.

With inputs from agencies

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.