In November 1935 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City hosted an exhibit of Vincent Van Gogh's work. It was the first time many of the paintings had been displayed in America, and the exhibit attracted record attendance. Thousands of people crowded into the museum every day. The exhibit was also widely covered by the media, though much of the coverage focused on the senational detail that Van Gogh had once cut off part of his ear.

The illustrator Hugh Troy was frustrated by the crowds at the exhibit, which made it hard for art lovers such as himself to view the works. He was also convinced that most of the people were there out of lurid interest in the man who had cut off his ear, not out of a true appreciation for the art. To prove his point, he fashioned a fake ear out of a piece of dried beef and mounted it in a velvet-lined shadow box. He snuck this into the museum and stood it on a table in the Van Gogh exhibit. Beside the box he placed a sign: "This is the ear which Vincent Van Gogh cut off and sent to his mistress, a French prostitute, Dec. 24, 1888."

Soon a large crowd was gathered around the ear, ignoring the paintings. Troy, meanwhile, was able to examine Van Gogh's works in peace.