Ear-y

When Van Gogh’s paintings were featured in 1935 by the New York City Museum of Modern Art, crowds flocked to the exhibit. But they showed much more interest in a piece of beef than they did in any of the masterpieces. American artist and prankster Hugh Troy had placed a piece of meat in a lined, velvet box and smuggled it into the museum. It carried this inscription: “This is the ear which Vincent van Gogh cut off and sent to his mistress, a French prostitute, Dec. 24, 1888.” And it attracted the largest crowds.