Beneath a starry night: Celebrating Van Gogh's 162nd birthday

[Photo/Xinhua]

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

Van Gogh created a number of self-portraits during his lifetime. As a prolific self-portraitist, he was fond of painting himself and once said that portrait studies was the only thing in painting that excited him to the depths of his soul, and which made him feel the infinite more than anything else. One of his most famous paintings, Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, depicts one of the tragic events of his life. Van Gogh had a fierce quarrel with another artist Gauguin on December 23, 1888. He was so choked with rage that he slashed his left ear and sent it to a prostitute.

He struggled with mental illness towards the end of his life, which influenced his art but also led to a series of unfortunate incidents.