Van Gogh The 1-Eared Rescue Dog Paints Way To CT Forever Home

BETHEL, CT — The artwork created by a one-eared dog named Van Gogh is ringing the cash register for a Bethel animal rescue – and has earned the pooch a forever home.

Van Gogh, a 7-year-old boxer/pit mix, was saved from a dog-fighting ring in North Carolina and taken in by the Happily Furever After Rescue this past June, CNN reported.

In addition to missing an ear, the pup shares another trait with his Dutch Post-Impressionist namesake: he paints. And humans are lining up to buy his artwork.

Van Gogh had been used as a bait dog in illegal fights. His left ear was so damaged from the experience that it had to be amputated.

The rescue's owner, Jaclyn Gartner, named the dog after the one-eared Dutch master, and was then inspired to press the comparison even further. She places gobs of paint on a canvas and places it into a plastic bag coated with peanut butter. The pup goes to town on his favorite food, and an art star is born.

"And while he is licking the peanut butter, all the paint smears around and makes the designs," she told CNN.

Like many troubled painters, dog Van Gogh's first foray into the professional art world was less than a success. A gallery showing of his first ten works at the rescue attracted only two curious mécènes des arts, according to the Washington Post.

But this is 21st century America, not 19th century Netherlands, so it's the internet to the rescue. A Facebook post featuring dog Van Gogh's art went viral, and the pooch's paintings have been flying out of the rescue as fast as he can schmoosh them out.

The dog's internet celebrity even found him a new forever home. The Washington Post reported Van Gogh was adopted by a volunteer at the shelter on the last day of the art show.

Despite the maestro's meteoric rise to fame, there's still an opportunity for ordinary dog-art lovers to own a Van Gogh original. Gartner is running an online silent auction of the prodigy's work, and you can make a bid here until Nov. 21. All the proceeds go to Happily Furever Rescue.

Although they may be less artistically inclined than their former cage mate, there are plenty of dogs at the rescue in need of adoption. You can begin to know them better here.