Van Gogh

Van Gogh was known for many things beyond that poster of Starry Night that hung in your dorm room: cutting off his ear, mental illness, a mysterious death and 36 self-portraits, one of which is coming to Los Angeles. Go see the Dutch Post-Impressionist's Self-Portrait from 1889 on view at the Norton Simon. One of the last things he painted, the portrait shows Van Gogh shortly after his breakdown in Saint-Rémy, after he cut off his right ear. The painting is only one of three where he depicts himself as an artist, and this occasion marks its first time on the West Coast. On loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Self-Portrait, 1889, will be hung near the museum's own Van Goghs.