Why did Pablo Picasso cut off his ear?

Question

I heard it was for a hooker or a hooker with one leg but I'm not sure cause if I was I woundn't be asking this question.

Answer 1

Pablo Picasso did not cut off his ear. You must be thinking of Van Gogh and you have half of the story right. It also has to do with his severe mental illnesses that institutionalized him at the end of his life. Just goes to show you that true geniuses are a little crazy or a lot crazy.

Answer 2

Pablo Picasso did not cut off his ear. That would be Vincent Van Gohg a late 19th century painter working in France. The circumstances of his cutting off of his ear were this: Vincent loved a beautiful woman who did not share his passion. Van Gogh was a plain man. He beieved in his dillusional state that if he cut his ear off and send it to her that she would see what manner of sacrafices that Van Goghn would be willing to go to for her. By this point, Van Gogh was surely mad. Van Gogh was not depressed over his art, his art made him depressed. He had gathered a small group of artists that imatated his style, so he had had some success. Van Gogh was very happy when he was able to talk Gaugain into living with him in what was known as "the yellow house". However, that relationship was not to last. Some have speculated that Van Gogh was homosexual however my presonal belief is that he had put so much into his art, had drank far too much and the crushing loneliness finally conspired to bring him low and resulted in his untimely death. The fact that Van Gogh did frequent the protitutes mitigates against his being a homosexual, however art historians are still arguing that fact.

Answer 3

Picasso never removed any of his body parts.
I believe you are thinking of Vincent Van Gogh, the great Dutch painter.
He cut off his ear lobe and sent it to a woman who he was in love with. She did not return his affection and he went into a deep depression after that. The legend says he cut off his whole ear but that was not true, it was just the lobe.
Years later he took his own life, never having recovered from this depression.

Answer 4

I did not know that Picasso cut off his ear but I knew that Vincent Van Gogh did.

Answer 5

It wasn't Picasso, it was Vincent Van Gogh, and supposedly he sent it to a lover. Who the lover was varies, whether it was a hooker or a man or a married woman.

Answer 6

I dear, I am sorry i don't want to be mean but you are SO IGNORANT.
It wasn't Pablo Picasso it was Van Gogh and yes he cut his ear but there are many versions of why he did so, one says e he was criticized by a prostitute that said he had big ears, while another says he did so because he fought with his best friend Gauguin and for his remorse feeling he did so!
the one i prefer to believe!
but you have to consider he wasn't well in his head, he also burn his hand with a candle since he was in love of a cousin and he asked her to let him see her one last time for as long as he could keep his hand over a candle flame!:)
when Van Gogh stalked Gauguin with a razor and then cut off the lower part of his own left ear, which he wrapped in newspaper and gave to a prostitute named Rachel in the local brothel, asking her to "keep this object carefully"

Answer 7

One other theory in addition "gebobs" very complete and informative answer: Gauguin loved to play with swords. On several occasions, Gauguin trashed his little house that he shared with Van Gogh with his sword. Gauguin also would get very drunk and then beat Van Gogh quite badly. Some art historians speculate that Gauguin cut off Van Gogh's ear during one these drunken bouts, but Van Gogh claimed responsibility to protect his "friend" with whom he was completely obsessed.

Answer 8

As the others correct you, it was Van Gogh. Due to his mental illness, his ability to rationalize his thoughts weren't present. There could be many speculations of the true meaning of his ear amputation. But one story was his established mental eccentricities aggravated by a combination of alcohol, absinthe, and epilepsy, van Gogh began hearing things. With the cold, unrelenting logic of the insane, he deduced that the solution to the problem was to cut off his left ear.

In reality, it was only the lower lobe of his ear, but it was a fairly extreme statement nevertheless. He attempted to give the detached organ to a prostitute, insisting it was a priceless gift.

As for the "ignorance" statement from Genny...look in the mirror. Not once have I seen a story indicated ridicule from a prostitute. He was spurned by his cousin many ears prior, but nothing about a prostitute belittling him about his ears.

Answer 9

It wasn't Picasso who cut off his ear.... it as Vincent Van Gogh who did that. I think that he suffered from a mental illness.

Answer 10

Yes, Vincent Van Gogh did cut off his ear and give it to his favorite prostitute. For one thing, he was already mad (crazy in the head I mean). Then he just broke up with a fellow painter and boarder, whom he threatened to kill. Van Gogh felt that this was his penance.


He never married, and died childless. His cherished nephew (child of his beloved brother) and godchild at baptism, had been named after him.