5 Ferocious Art World Rivalries

Some consider Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, often simply called Caravaggio, one of the most revolutionary artists of his time. The artist, who painted in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, had a major influence on the Baroque style, with some dubbing him its founder. He was also a rabble-rouser with an extensive police record. He even murdered a man.

One of Caravaggio's contemporaries, Giovanni Baglione, also painted in the Baroque style, winning numerous commissions. The two men soon developed a contentious relationship. In 1603, after one of Baglione's altarpieces didn't wow its audience, Caravaggio gleefully disparaged Baglione's work via crude, satirical poems that he distributed in the artists' quarter. Baglione then sued him for slander, and Caravaggio spent two weeks in jail.

Many people know 19th-century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear, but few know the back story. Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were two post-Impressionist artists whose work incorporated a wealth of color. The two painters shared quarters in southern France at the famous Yellow House, where van Gogh was trying to create an artists' commune. Initially, the men were close, enjoying a friendly rivalry that was beneficial to both. But van Gogh had mental health struggles, while the strong-willed Gauguin led a turbulent life. Eventually, they began to clash.

After the two argued in December 1888, Gauguin told police he left the house to take a walk when van Gogh rushed at him with an open razor, but then took off running home. Gauguin decided to spend the night in a nearby hotel. In anguish, van Gogh cut off part of his left ear with a razor, giving a slice to a prostitute he frequented. Gauguin returned in the morning and saw van Gogh with his head covered in blood, confused. Van Gogh was taken to a hospital and then to an insane asylum.

In 2009, two German art historians said it's possible that Van Gogh made a move to attack Gauguin (an excellent fencer), who accidentally cut Van Gogh's ear with the sword he was using to defend himself. Either way, after the incident, Gauguin left southern France and the two apparently never saw one another again.

Not all artistic rivalries result in harsh words or bloodshed. Spain's Pablo Picasso and France's Henri Matisse had a rivalry that was fierce, but the men generally treated one another with respect. The two Modernists initially disliked one another's work, but eventually admired each other's talent — plus the fact that the other's artwork positively challenged and inspired their own. In fact, Picasso once said that if he wasn't creating the paintings he was making, he'd paint like Matisse.

Unlike other artistic rivals, the two remained friends throughout their lives. In fact, some say their rivalry was blown out of proportion as a PR stunt by the avant-garde poet Apollinaire. In 1918, Apollinaire wrote about an upcoming Matisse/Picasso show at art dealer Paul Guillaume's gallery, billing it as a clash of the titans. But the artists apparently did not see it that way.

Edgar Degas was a French painter, sculptor and printmaker whose heyday was in the mid- to late-1800s. He's well-known for his Impressionist works and his fondness for ballet dancers. Édouard Manet was Degas' contemporary. While he claimed not to be an Impressionist, his paintings were clearly influenced by the works of his Impressionist friends, including Degas.

The two artists were friends for quite some time until a painting came between them. Degas painted a portrait of Manet and his wife, Suzanne, as a gift, and Manet gave him a still life of plums he had painted in return. But after dropping in to Manet's studio one day, Degas saw his portrait had been marred by a huge gash through Suzanne's face. No one knows for sure why Degas' portrait of the couple was ruined. Perhaps Manet disliked Degas' portrayal of his wife. Degas took the painting back home to fix it, but never got around to it. He also returned the still life to Manet that had been hanging on his wall.

Eventually, the two men did reconcile. "How could you expect anyone to stay on bad terms with Manet?" Degas told his art dealer. "Only he had already sold 'Plums.' What a beautiful canvas it was!"

One modern-day rivalry was the feud between the anonymous Banksy and King Robbo, both U.K. street artists. Their hostility began in the 1990s, when the two met in a London bar. King Robbo felt Banksy dissed him, so he allegedly slapped Banksy. That led Banksy to seek out a 1985 graffiti work of King Robbo's near London's Regent's Canal, which he creatively covered up by drawing a worker pasting wallpaper over it. King Robbo, in turn, changed Banksy's artwork so that the worker appeared to be spraying the words "King Robbo" on the piece.

The two continued altering each other's work on this particular painting, plus others. Their rivalry may have continued for years, but King Robbo suffered a severe head injury in 2011, which led to his death three years later. Afterward, a mural was created in his honor — which Banksy once again tweaked. He said his alteration was a tribute to King Robbo, and a way of showing their conflict was over. But King Robbo's friends didn't view it that way, and restored their tribute to its original form.