Editing Paul Gauguin (section)

=== Vincent and Theo van Gogh ===
[[File:Vincent van Gogh - Paul Gauguin (Man in a Red Beret).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Vincent van Gogh]], ''Paul Gauguin (Man in a Red Beret)'', 1888, [[Van Gogh Museum]], Amsterdam]]
Gauguin's [[Martinique]] paintings were exhibited at his colour merchant Arsène Poitier's gallery. There they were seen and admired by [[Vincent van Gogh]] and his art dealer brother [[Theo van Gogh (art dealer)|Theo]], whose firm [[Goupil & Cie]] had dealings with Portier. Theo purchased three of Gauguin's paintings for 900 francs and arranged to have them hung at Goupil's, thus introducing Gauguin to wealthy clients. This arrangement with Goupil's continued past Theo's death in 1891. At the same time, Vincent and Gauguin became close friends (on Vincent's part it amounted to something akin to adulation) and they corresponded together on art, a correspondence that was instrumental in Gauguin formulating his [[philosophy of art]].<ref>Thomson 1987, pp. 52–54, 65.</ref><ref>Mathews 2001, pp. 113–117.</ref>

In 1888, at Theo's instigation, Gauguin and Vincent spent nine weeks painting together at Vincent's [[The Yellow House|Yellow House]] in [[Arles]] in the South of France. Gauguin's relationship with Vincent proved fraught. Their relationship deteriorated and eventually Gauguin decided to leave. On the evening of 23 December 1888, according to a much later account of Gauguin's, Vincent confronted Gauguin with a [[straight razor]]. Later the same evening, he cut off his own left ear. He wrapped the severed tissue in newspaper and handed it to a woman who worked at a [[brothel]] Gauguin and Vincent had both visited, and asked her to "keep this object carefully, in remembrance of me". Vincent was [[Hospital in Arles|hospitalized]] the following day and Gauguin left Arles.{{sfn|Gayford|2006|p=284}} They never saw each other again, but they continued to correspond, and in 1890 Gauguin went so far as to propose they form an artist studio in [[Antwerp]].<ref>Pickvance, Ronald. ''Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy and Auvers'' (exh. cat. [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York), Abrams, New York 1986. {{ISBN|0-87099-477-8}}, p. 62.</ref> An 1889 sculptural self-portrait ''[[Jug in the Form of a Head, Self-Portrait|Jug in the Form of a Head]]'' appears to reference Gauguin's traumatic relationship with Vincent.

Gauguin later claimed to have been instrumental in influencing Vincent van Gogh's development as a painter at Arles. While Vincent did briefly experiment with Gauguin's theory of "painting from the imagination" in paintings such as ''[[Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles)|Memory of the Garden at Etten]]'', it did not suit him and he quickly returned to painting from nature.{{sfn|Thomson|1987|pp=76–77}}<ref name="Avant et après" />