Controversy over Van Gogh exhibition. On sale is a gadget in the shape of an ear

At the Courtauld Gallery in London, the first-ever exhibition dedicated to Vincent van Gogh’s self-portraits opened Feb. 3, 2022, and it is already a controversy.

Among the works on display is theSelf-Portrait with Bandaged Ear from 1889, and controversy has been sparked precisely because of a gadget available for purchase at the museum’s bookshop, labeled as insensitive of the famous artist’s mental illness: an ear-shaped eraser. Van Gogh cut off his ear on Dec. 23, 1888, with a razor probably following a loud argument with his painter friend Paul Gauguin; he wrapped it in a sheet of newspaper and had it delivered to a woman, a prostitute he knew.

The gadget, available for £6, has been strongly criticized as mocking Van Gogh’s self-mutilation and mental problems.

Charles Thomson, co-founder of the Stuckist collective, said, “Suicide and mental illness are no joke.” He added to the Daily mail, “It’s a shallow, ugly, insensitive gadget. What will be sold next? The gun with which Van Gogh committed suicide?”

Also on sale is an emotional first aid kit, at a cost of £16, described as “a box of wise emergency advice for twenty complicated psychological situations,” and at a cost of £5, a bar of soap ideal for “the tormented artist who likes fluffy bubbles.”

Now, from the online shop, the eraser has been removed.

Image: Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889; London, Courtauld Gallery) Credit The Courtauld Galleries

Controversy over Van Gogh exhibition. On sale is a gadget in the shape of an ear

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