unitedcolorsof

caneca dear van gogh, mike mak

...on 23 december 1888, frustrated and ill, van gogh confronted gauguin with a razor blade.

in panic, van gogh left their hotel and fled to a local brothel.

while there, he cut off the lower part of his left ear lobe.

he wrapped the severed tissue in newspaper and gave to a prostitute named rachel,

asking her to 'handle this object carefully'