Art Trivia – Did You Know?Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh didn't actually 'cut off his ear'. He merely lopped off the lower portion of his left ear (I think they call that a Lobe-otomy…) And did you know that although an original Van Gogh painting today can easily sell for millions of dollars, he sold only one painting in his lifetime, Red Vineyard at Arles, and that, to his brother Theo for 400 francs, before Vincent shot himself and took 2 days to die.
Did you know that the Nike logo was actually designed by a co-op student for Nike, who created an abstract version of the wing of the Nike of Samothrace, the Greek goddess of Victory. (I hope they gave him a raise…)
Did you know that that when young and impoverished, Pablo Picasso, kept warm by burning his own paintings. (Youch….that’s kind of self-defeating…)
Did you know that on August 21st, 1911, a janitor stole the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world, from the Louvre Museum. It was recovered two years later. It turns out, the janitor who cleaned the floor in front of the painting for years, had fallen in love with her, and the way she looked at him, so he took her home just to have her nearer by. But two years later his conscience caught up with him and he returned it. (Ah… the power of love…)
Did you know that Roman statues were made with detachable heads, so that one head could be removed and replaced by another. (That’s expediency…I guess…)
Did you know that English artist Andy Brown, created a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II of Britain by stitching together 1,000 used tea bags. (They do love their tea in Britain...)
Did you know that a Flemish artist is responsible for the world's smallest painting in history. It is a picture of a miller and his mill, and it was painted onto a single grain of corn. (Can you imagine the challenge...)
* We’d like to thank all those whose did the research and discovered these amusing details of the lives of infamous artists. We’ve only gleaned these from readily available public information. Anything listed above is for your informative amusement and pleasure. We cannot vouch for its authenticity though we do believe that it all comes from knowledgeable and reliable sources.
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