On December 23, 1888, Vincent van Gogh was left without a piece of his left ear after a loud argument with Gauguin, his colleague and roommate in Arles. He wrapped it in newspaper and handed it over to a prostitute named Rachel, whom they both knew. The most widespread theory is that she cut it himself to give the note, and soon after he was admitted to an institution to deal with his psychiatric problems. The other, disclosed by German investigators, is that the cut was given to him by his friend, the French painter, with a fencing sword, but they hid it from the police to avoid problems.
The Art Institute of Chicago has a dozen Van Gogh paintings in its Impressionist galleries, including The Room, The Drunkards, The Poet's Garden and a self-portrait. Many opposed the celebration last weekend of a Nascar circuit race through the streets of the city (around Grant Park), arguing that the pollution from the vehicles would penetrate the walls of the museum and damage the paintings. from Dutch.
It was not the only reason alleged, of course. Imagine that the former mayor Ada Colau, without consulting the citizens or the councilors, had signed a three-year contract with Formula 1 before the elections to hold a race on an urban circuit along Avinguda de Sarrià, Diagonal , Rambla de Catalunya, Passeig de la Bonanova and Turó Park, with cars roaring at more than three hundred kilometers per hour. If the neighbors, concerned about the noise, force them to start clearing the tables on the terraces after eleven at night, the marimorena would have been mounted.
Well, the same in Chicago. Except that former mayor Lori Lightfoot (who lost her position last November) did sign the contract with Nascar, with the intention of attracting visitors, filling hotels and restaurants, and raising $130 million for a city that -like San Francisco and others - suffers the consequences of the pandemic: tens of thousands of offices have been left empty due to teleworking.
The organizers of Nascar want to give a new air to a competition full of noise and color, but which has lost popularity in the last two decades, identified with the South of the United States and in whose circuits (Daytona Beach, Talladega...) Confederate flags have only recently been banned. Racism is a serious problem, to the point that President Biden has been insulted, and so has the only prominent black, Bubba Wallace, who races for the 23 XI Racing Team owned by Michael Jordan, and whose car bears the same number as the legend wore on his shirt.
Of the 16% of North Americans who declared themselves to be very fond of Nascar two decades ago, only 6% remain, and the idea is to broaden the fan base to include Latinos and blacks, taking the races to cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, in whose Colosseum has already held two competitions (another thing is that they can afford tickets that range between 300 and 4,000 euros). But the more than well-to-do residents of Michigan Avenue and Lake Shore Drive (the equivalent of Pedralbes) have not liked the closure of streets and shops, the traffic and the smell of burning tires, even despite being invited to a grand launch party featuring a demo car with Van Gogh's self-portrait (the same one from the museum) on the body. The new mayor, Brandon Johnson, says he's going to crunch the numbers and decide whether he keeps the contract or slashes, like the painter (or maybe Gauguin) at his ear.
