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The Starry Night By Vincent Van Gogh

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Starry Nights The captivating painting by Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night is a work of art completed by Van Gogh in 1889. Van Gogh had wanted to paint something that represented the night sky for some time, but many people are interested to find out that Van Gogh actually painted The Starry Night during his time at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, an asylum and clinic for the mentally ill. There is much debate over the legacy of Van Gogh, and his “Turbulent Mindstate” however we can examine much of the speculation about the artist by doing research on the painting The Starry Night. (Paulson) During his time at the asylum Van Gogh was set up with a window, which had a view of the mountains, and also a studio, which had a view of a garden and the night sky. Dr. Paulson’s input about Van Gogh’s composition of the work while in the asylum was that, “it is assumed that Van Gogh composed The Starry Night using elements of a few previously completed works still stored in his studio, as well as aspects from imagination and memory.” From this we can understand that The Starry Night is not a direct representation of what Van Gogh saw at Night during his stay at the asylum. (Paulson) As a symbol of Van Gogh’s turbulent mind state, many look at the Starry Night. The author of the Khan Academy article, Dr. Paulson, says “The curving, swirling lines of hills, mountains, and sky, the brilliantly contrasting blues and yellows, the large, flame-like cypress trees, and the thickly layered

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