Starry Night a Paint by Vincent Van Gogh Essay

Vincent van Gogh was a deeply troubled, post-impressionist artist and his painting “Starry Night” is his most famous piece. Working from memory, he painted the oil on canvas passing the time in Saint-Remy-de-Provence located in southern France while undergoing treatment in an insane asylum. The piece is very energetic with eleven fireball

The first four sources I will be using are related to “The Starry Night” painting from Vincent van Gogh. The first source, located on MOMA Learning, is titled "Vincent van Gogh: The Starry Night, 1889” which does not appear to have an author or publication date. The MOMA Learning article provides insights into the interpretations of the artwork, including insights into Van Gogh’s mental state at the time that the painting. Additionally, the article provides relevant information regarding the post-impressionists use of their art as a way to express their emotions and “psychological responses to the world through bold colors and expressive, often symbolic images” (MOMA Learning, n.d.). The second source is “Van Gogh: Art and Suicide”

Another interesting part of this canvas is the direction of the reflections showing from the water. Van Gogh tries gives us this sense of calm movement with the reflection of the lighting going in a downward course. Also, the artist shows the viewer the grouping from the stars, to the lights from the houses, to the reflection form the water and which again it gives us the sense of the lighting going in a downward motion.

Soth’s thesis in this paper is essentially that Starry Night is both Van Gogh’s representation of the biblical scene Agony in the Garden -- when Jesus prays to God after the Last Supper acknowledging his impending betrayal-- as well as Van Gogh’s physical agony and nostalgia. He argues that Van Gogh created the piece through a mixture of observation and imagination as a consolation piece for the artist to seek religion through means other than traditional Christian imagery. Carlo Dolci’s version of Agony in the Garden is referenced in particular (311). Soth’s physical

One of Vincent Van Gogh’s most world renowned paintings is his landscape oil painting Starry Night. The painting displays a small town underneath an unusual yet still extremely beautiful night sky. In this night sky, Van Gogh utilizes an array of colors that blend well together in order to enhance the sky as a whole. The town is clearly a small one due to the amount of buildings that are present in the painting itself. In this small town most of the buildings have lights on which symbolize life in a community. Another visual in Starry Night is the mountain like figures that appear in the background of the illustrious painting. Several things contribute to the beauty of Van Gogh’s painting which are the painting’s function, context, style, and design. Van Gogh’s utilization of these elements help bring further emphasis to his work in Starry Night.

This masterpiece was painted by Van Gogh in 1889 while he was receiving treatment in Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, a mental asylum. The beautiful painting that many people have come to love today was never appreciated during its own time. Various art critics thought that the large brush strokes Van Gogh had made in Starry Night seemed “messy” and “childlike”. The strokes also convinced people that Van Gogh was truly crazy and that he was not as talented as other artists. Yet the pencil thick lines are what made the painting look hyper-realistic and eye-catching. They have a calming, consistent effect on people whose eyes want to follow the swirls and lines. The brush strokes that Van Gogh added more texture, detail, and blended the colors easily to one another in Starry Night. The realistic details make it feel as if the painting is trying to get a message across to the public. With every line that Vincent van Gogh had made he put as much feelings into them as he did with effort.

One of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings is The Starry Night. Although, Van Gogh sold only one painting in his life, the aftermath of his work is enormous (Schapiro 31). Widely known as his greatest piece of work, the painting has been reproduced several times and is one of his most famous paintings. Van Gogh however, was not satisfied with this painting, in a letter to his brother Theo from Saint-Remy he states,

Unity was created in this painting because he made everything feel related and fit well together. Also, the various shades of different colors and the various kinds of brushstrokes used generate great variety in this painting. The balance of this painting is asymmetrical, since there is a village and a moon on one side, a cypress tree on the other side, and stars scattered in the night sky. Since Van Gogh used such electric colors in order to emphasize the sky, it is obvious that the focal point is the sky, which includes the stars and the moon. Also, the village and hills seem to subordinate this painting so that the sky is highlighted. This painting has directional forces, such as the swirls used in the sky. These swirls encourage the viewer to follow the swirls across the painting and keep one interested. Repetition and rhythm can be found in this painting as well. For example, the swirled brushstrokes in the sky are the same and the curved brushstrokes in the hills and cypress tree are the same. This painting also uses proportional differences, which include the largeness of the cypress tree and stars compared to the small village and the hills in the

     With its swirling colors and lines, The Starry Night, incorporates not just the color and light that is found in the earlier works of these painters, but it shows how forms and feelings also came into play. One of van Gogh’s main beliefs was that art was a direct representation of how the artist feels. Having grown up in a very religious family, van Gogh viewed the heavens as a beautiful, living thing. His heavy brushstrokes and vivid colors portray the night sky as crazy and chaotic and the village below as peaceful and serene. Van Gogh’s troubled life, which involved many failures in life, love and business, forced him into madness, which eventually caused him to commit suicide. While the problems of his life may have caused personal trauma, the artistic importance of his insanity is overwhelming. Perhaps if he had not gone crazy, he never would have created the masterpieces that have had such an impact on art and history.

By taking a look at Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and further researching into it, we are able to notice the meaning behind it. Van Gogh’s first creations were earth-toned scenes of nature and peasants. However, after his well-known breakdown, he was put in an asylum, and his art style changed severely (National Gallery of Art.). One of the paintings he created in this period of poor mental health was the famous Starry Night, a painting made with oil on canvas (MoMA Learning) with heavy brushstrokes that, in my opinion, look similar to the ocean waves. The most common interpretation of the meaning of this painting is associated with Van Gogh’s isolation and insanity. However, the meaning of this painting is deeper than that. Each detail in Starry

The reason why Vincent van Gogh created the portray called “The Starry Night” was because he began to suffer hallucination and have thoughts of suicide as he plunged into depression. Just before sunrise, he was inspired by the east-facing window view of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence which he later uses his imagination to create the artwork. The Starry Night masterpiece was based on van Gogh’s direct observations as well as his imagination, memories, and emotions of the sunset at the asylum. He also wrote a letter to his brother Theo van Gogh about him seeing an amazing view which was stated: “This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big”. This part of the letter was evidence that he created “The Starry Night” because he was inspired by the view and use his imagination to paint the picture with oil painting.

The Starry Night is an oil painting that depicts a small, nestled town under an almost magical sky. This piece, much like Elisabeth’s Nocturne, possesses a dominance of cool hues. While both paintings depict a night sky, Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night actually leads the observer’s eyes through the painting due to it’s brush strokes and fluidity. Although the work is very fluid and almost kinetic, it is not overwhelming or busy. Its rhythm is purposeful, not noisy. In fact, the painting almost gives off a calming, spiritual feeling to the viewer. The sky over the nestled town is a swirl of blue, yellow, and orange tints and shades that demonstrates an almost ethereal influence as if something greater is meant to be shown than what is simply before the observer. Radial

In Vincent van Gogh’s renowned painting, The Starry Night, the vast night sky dominates the background space of the painting. The brightness of the eleven stars, with their yellow celestial glow illuminate the night, blanketing the sleepy, rural village below. Far from the glaring lights of the urban landscape, the pureness of the stars’ radiance floats effortlessly above, lulling the people of the quaint village to sleep. Hovering in the upper right hand corner is a brilliant orange crescent moon, which contributes to the warm mood and aesthetic value of the piece. Mountains, rolling hills and wheat fields surround the cottages as though nature itself is getting a sleepy respite from a long day, much like the townspeople. Toward the forefront of the painting are

Vincent Van Gogh is a well-known artist to people because of one of his paintings, The Starry Night. Van Gogh has painted many other pieces during his lifetime including one that is currently on display at the Minnesota Institute of Art, Olive Trees. This painting is part of a series of olive tree paintings consisting of a total 18 pieces of art. The one at the Minnesota Institute of Art was painted November of 1889 and is known as “Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun”. Through a contextual analysis of this piece a lot can be discovered about its meaning. When this piece is compared to other artwork by Van Gogh even more fascinating details emerge about this piece of art.

Many elements and principles are portrayed in this art piece. To begin with, the first thing I see and grabs my attention is the swirling wind. Rhythm and Movement can be seen and it creates a flow to the rest of the painting in which leads your eyes to follow along the path of the swirl and brings you to the next subject. It allowed me to view the art piece up to down and left to right, as I started from the swirl to the stars