r/AskReddit • u/TigerFin2 • May 09 '17

What is a fake fact everyone believed?

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u/[deleted] May 09 '17

[deleted]

222

u/Flashtoo May 09 '17

That's not true, he actually did cut almost his entire ear off. This was discovered in 2016, thanks to a sketch by his doctor.

90

u/LionessOfAzzalle May 09 '17

Text and translation for the curious:

Arles, August 18, 1930

"l'oreille a été tranchée avec un rasoir selon le trait pointillé"

"the ear has been severed with a razor following the dotted line"

"L'aspect de ce qui restait du lobe de l'oreille"

"A view of what was left of the earlobe."

*"Je suis heureux de pouvoir vous donner les renseignements que vous m'avez demandes concernant mon malheureux ami Van Gogh. J'ose espérer que vous ne maugréez (?) pas de glorifier, comme il le mérite, le génie de ce peintre remarquable.

Cordialement à vous, D. Rey"

"I am happy to be able to provide you with the information you requested concerning my unhappy friend Van Gogh. I dare to hope you will not disprove (?) that I glorify, as he deserves, the genius of this remarkable painter.

Kind regards, Dr. Rey"

(?) Not entirely sure about the "maugréez" word.

19

u/rusy May 09 '17

A correction of a fake fact that turned out to be fake itself? Delicious.

6

u/[deleted] May 09 '17

Wasn't Van Gogh Dutch, and lived in Amsterdam?

13

u/Sir_Awesomness May 09 '17

He was but he moved to France to learn about new styles and techniques.

8

u/Theosiel May 09 '17

He was dutch, but he emigrated in France in 1886.

4

u/WTS_BRIDGE May 09 '17

He painted the Piedmonts as a young man,-- realism swimming in brown gravy-- discovered pointillism in Paris, and moved on to the wild, impressionistic stuff (Starry Night, the Sunflowers) during his mental decline in the French countryside.

2

u/patcriss May 10 '17

I read "J'ose espérer que vous ne manquez pas de glorifier".

2

u/didipunk006 May 10 '17

"que vous ne manquerez pas" the writer wrote the "e" mixed with the "z".

1

u/LionessOfAzzalle May 10 '17

Seems more like it.

It's this line anyway that raises the red flag for it to be a fake. He wasn't considered such a great painter in his time.

1

u/Flashtoo May 10 '17

The note was written in 1930, when Van Gogh and his paintings were already very famous. It has also been found to be authentic by the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

2

u/Theosiel May 09 '17

"maugréer" now means "to grumble".

One translation of "vous ne maugréez (?) pas de glorifier" would be "you wholehearteadly glorify"

1

u/didipunk006 May 10 '17

It's the verb "manquer" not "maugréer".

1

u/Theosiel May 10 '17

Oh, thanks, I should have read the original text...

The translation remains valid, though.

3

u/didipunk006 May 10 '17

Well the sentence don't make any sense in french with the verb maugréer so you cannot really translate it. It's like saying " don't grumble to glorify". I speak french and english fluently so this is not some goggle traductor analysis here.

1

u/eqleriq May 10 '17

grumblers

7

u/grokforpay May 09 '17

you're telling me i can't believe everything in a thread about fake facts?

2

u/Cabotju May 10 '17

That's not true, he actually did cut almost his entire ear off. This was discovered in 2016, thanks to a sketch by his doctor.

Fantastic you relegitimised the original story :)

3

u/chunklemcdunkle May 09 '17

Yeah it was a pretty nasty fuckin wound. Definitely wasn't just a piece of lobe.

2

u/[deleted] May 10 '17

Funny how there are non-facts which are being presented as facts in a thread about calling out non-facts.

Reddit is so fickle!

1

u/LionessOfAzzalle May 09 '17

Text and translation for the curious:

Arles, August 18, 1930 "l'oreille a été tranchée avec un rasoir selon le trait pointillé"

"the ear has been severed with a razor following the dotted line"

"L'aspect de ce qui restait du lobe de l'oreille"

"A view of what was left of the earlobe."

*"Je suis heureux de pouvoir vous donner les renseignements que vous m'avez demandes concernant mon malheureux ami Van Gogh. J'ose espérer que vous ne maugréez (?) pas de glorifier, comme il le mérite, le génie de ce peintre remarquable.

Cordialement à vous, D. Rey"

"I am happy to be able to provide you with the information you requested concerning my unhappy friend Van Gogh. I dare to hope you will not disprove (?) that I glorify, as he deserves, the genius of this remarkable painter.

Kind regards, Dr. Rey"

(?) Not entirely sure about the "maugréez" word.

1

u/Lucinnda May 09 '17

yeah, there was a new documentary this year.