Ear of Beef

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.