Do not panic.
You have not been surreptitiously drugged and no, your vision has not lapsed into some kind of proto-impressionistic fugue state.
But that is a real, three-dimensional, built-to-code room, and yes, you can stay in it.
To promote a new exhibition displaying three versions of Vincent Van Gogh’s “The Bedroom” that opens on February 14, the Art Institute of Chicago has created a life-sized replica of the popular painting and put it up for rent on Airbnb.
The rental is a reproduction of the room in the Yellow House where the eccentric artist lived while he was staying in the south of France. And yes, it’s the same the room where he once hacked off his ear before taking it to a brothel and giving it to a former friend’s favorite concubine for safekeeping.
The rentable bedroom is modeled after the second version of Van Gogh’s composition, which he painted while staying at a mental institution in Saint-Rémy in 1889 (which in turn might explain why guests have to sign a waiver before their visit as part of the house rules).
“I’m charging $10 for no other reason than that I need to buy paint,” posits the listing in the disembodied voice of Mssr. Van Gogh. “However, I will be happy to provide you with tickets to my exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.”
There’s a gym, pool and free wireless, but absinthe and brothel access are not included with the price of entry.
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