LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Vincent Van Gogh: Paul Gauguin
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The relationship between Van Gogh and Gauguin deteriorated throughout December.... Their heated arguments became more and more frequent--"electric" as Vincent would describe them. Relations between the pair declined in tandem with Vincent's state of mental health. On 23 December Vincent van Gogh, in an irrational fit of madness, mutilated the lower portion of his left ear. He severed the lobe with a razor, wrapped it in cloth and then took it to a brothel and presented it to one of the women there. Vincent then staggered back to the Yellow House where he collapsed.
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In 1888 van Gogh settled in Arles in the south of France, partially because he thought the warm climate would benefit his poor health (now thought to be a form of epilepsy). He entreated Gauguin to join him but the two parted after a quarrel. The following year van Gogh voluntarily committed himself to a sanatorium at Saint-Rémy; during this period he executed The Olive Orchard (1889). Because of repeated illness he spent much time in the hospital. In 1890 he moved to Auvers, where he made his last works. Van Gogh died, a suicide, in July of that year.
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In May 1890, Van Gogh left the clinic and went to the physician Dr. Paul Gachet, in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris, where he was closer to his brother Theo. Dr. Gachet had been recommended to him by Pissarro, as he had previously treated several artists and was an amateur artist himself. Van Gogh's first impression was that Gachet was "sicker than I am, I think, or shall we say just as much."[68] Later Van Gogh did two portraits of Gachet in oils, as well as a third—his only etching, and in all three emphasis is on Gachet's melancholic disposition. In his last weeks at Saint-Rémy Van Gogh's thoughts had been returning to his "memories of the North",[69] and several of the approximately 70 oils he painted during his 70 days in Auvers-sur-Oise—such as The Church at Auvers—are reminiscent of northern scenes.
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In spring 1886 Van Gogh went to Paris, where he moved in with his brother Theo; they shared a house on Montmartre. Here he met the painters met Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Bernard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin. He discoverd impressionism and liked its use of light and colour, more than its lack of social engagement (as he saw it). Especially the technique known as pointillism (where many small dots are applied to the canvas that blend into rich colours only in the eye of the beholder, seeing it from a distance) made its mark on Van Goghs own style. It should be noted that Van Gogh is regarded as a post-impressionist, rather than an impressionist.
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Throughout his life, Van Gogh gave evidence of mental instability having a difficult and moody personality. Various biographies - all from the perspective of history - describe him as suffering with epilepsy, depression, psychotic attacks, delusions, and bipolar disorder. In December 1888, Van Gogh experienced a psychotic episode in which he threatened the life of Gauguin, a personal friend and fellow artist. This episode ... brought about the notorious incident in which Van Gogh cut off a piece of his own left ear offering it as a gift to a prostitute. Subsequently, he consigned himself to a mental asylum for more than a year, but left in frustration because his condition was not improving.
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[One] turning point takes place early in the year when Vincent begins studies with Cormon (1845-1924) at his atelier. It is not so much the training that influences Vincent, but rather his introduction to his fellow students: John Russell (1858-1931), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) and Emile Bernard (1868-1941). Later in the year, Theo, who is working for Boussod & Valadon managing an art gallery in Montmartre, introduces Vincent to the works of the Impressionists: Claude Monet, Pierre-August Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas and Georges Seurat. Their work has a profound influence on Vincent and his use of colour. Later in the year, Vincent becomes friends with painter, Paul Gauguin, a turbulent relationship that would later prove to be another turning point in Vincent's (and Gaugin's) life.
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