A treatment is available for qualified individuals. For more information about
"Van Gogh in Paris", please email jra2@vangoghinparis.com.
The Main Characters, their nationalities, and ages:
Vincent van Gogh, Dutch, 32
Augostina Segatori, Italian, 42
Theo van Gogh, Dutch, 28
Marie Valade, French, 20
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, French, 21
John Peter Russell, Australian, 27
Marianna Matticiolo, Italian, 20
Emile Bernard, French, 17
Louis Anquetin, French, 24
Paul Signac, French, 22
Felix Feneon, French, 30
Jean-Paul Lucey, French, 18
Paul Gauguin, French, 37
About the author: J.R. Adams has been a medical technologist, telecommunications engineer,
tv director/developer, and part owner of a Chinese restaurant. He also studied screenwriting with Paul Lucey. Currently, he is a contract worker with an electricity wholesaler, living on the surf coast of Southern Victoria, Australia.
To answer the most frequently asked question, the model at the top of the web pages is a modern-day representation of one of the main characters, Marie Valade. Look at the Graphics page to see what the people, locations, and paintings really looked like.
I listened with great interest to the story of two German researchers who spent 10 years studying the three and a half months that Paul Gauguin lived with Vincent in Arles. According to them, Gauguin is the one who cut off part, or all, of Vincent's ear. At first I, too, thought Gauguin did it. It is well documented that Gauguin had fencing gear at the Yellow House.
But, there is a much more logical explanation. We know Vincent's first episode of epileptic-type seizures was on the very same evening that his ear was sliced. And, we know he was clean-shaven at the time because of his self-portraits with bandaged ear. It's very easy to imagine Vincent was shaving and with left hand grasping his left ear lobe, went into a seizure, his right hand with the straight razor flying upwards, slicing off a part, or most, of his ear. Also, Vincent, himself, provides the same explanation in a letter to his brother, Theo, of May 22,1889, "Most epileptics bite their tongue and injure themselves. Rey told me that he had seen a case where someone had mutilated his own ear, just as I did, and I think I heard a doctor from here, who came to see me with the director, say that he too had seen it before." A glint of light off the straight razor may have even triggered the attack.
As far as Gauguin doing it with a fencing foil... An epee or rapier is a thrusting weapon with a pointed tip which may, or may not, have had a point d'arret (preventing it from penetrating flesh). If the foil had been able to make a slice, a horizontal stroke wouldn't have cut off the ear, just sliced it in two. A vertical stroke down would have, but, likely would have also cut his shoulder. A vertical stroke up probably wouldn't have the velocity needed to slice the ear, unless he used a very sharp sword of some kind, not the kind of thing you'd be fencing with.
Furthermore, in Vincent's letter of January 17, 1889...
"On various occasions I have seen him (Gauguin) do things which you and I would not let ourselves do, because we have consiences that feel differently about things. I have heard one or two things said of him, but having seen him at very, very close quarters, I think that he is carried away by his imagination, perhaps by pride, but… practically irresponsible.
Fortunately Gauguin and I and other painters are not yet armed with machine guns and other very destructive implements of war. I for one am quite decided to go on being armed with nothing but my brush and my pen.
But with a good deal of clatter, Gauguin has nonetheless demanded in his last letter "his masks and fencing gloves" hidden in the little closet in my little yellow house.
I shall hasten to send him his toys by parcel post."
In my way of thinking, Vincent wouldn't have had such a low opinion of the fencing gear had it been used to slice off his ear three weeks earlier.
At any rate, it's amazing what is logical and straight-forward to some is not to others. Perhaps this is the reason why we have such a fascination with Vincent, his persona means so many different things to so many different people.
Another thing, some people think Vincent was left handed. He was not. All of his self-portraits were painted by looking into a mirror. As anyone who's looked in a mirror can tell, it reverses things left/right. Also, look at portraits of him by others, he is always right handed.
