Two weeks ago, an exhibition of self-portraits by Van Gogh opened at Courtauld Gallery in London. The exhibition itself received rave reviews, but the souvenirs in the museum shop could count on less appreciation.
They sold, among other things, an eraser in the shape of an ear, which was jokingly called “earaser”, a contraction of the English word for ear and eraser. Van Gogh had serious mental problems during his life and at one point he cut off a large part of his ear. He also volunteered for a while in a psychiatric hospital in Saint-Remy in France. In 1890 he committed suicide. He was then 37 years old.
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