An Analysis on Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night

By Melanie Lee
Van Gogh painted this piece in 1889 while he was in Saint Rmy seeking treatment in a mental asylum. Interestingly enough, he painted this piece from his memory and it was supposed to have been based on a constellation arrangement he had seen earlier on in the night sky of Provence. Starry Night is perhaps one of his most famous and yet most elusive works. The first thing that I noticed was the overwhelming night sky, which takes up most of the background. Its swirling, flowing lines appear to be swishing across the background in this gentle, wavy motion and seem to be merging at the centre to form this spirallike formation. Eleven fiery yellow stars that look like huge fireballs illuminate this whole piece and contrast with the cool blue, fluid night sky that takes on an amazing variety of shades of blue and grey. There is also the crescent moon at the top right hand corner that radiates a more orange, brighter light from the rest of the stars. The view of the night sky and village is partially blocked by this huge cypress bush in the foreground. It has this writhing quality to it and its black green colouring stands out to the rest of the relatively pastel piece. The houses are tiny and inconspicuously painted in the bottom right corner of the painting and blend in quite well with the forest and mountains. The architecture of the village is quaint and simple and no light illuminates the village, giving the impression that everyone there is probably asleep. In general, his brush strokes are heavy and thick and have this insistent, hectic rhythm to it. As a result, this painting has an illusion of constantly being in motion. The fact that he had painted this from his mental image may have contributed to this piece having such a strong sense of great mental dislocation and emotional intensity. One almost feels as if he was hardly able to contain his feelings and that all his angst and passion seem to have spilled onto this piece. The moon and stars seem so huge that we feel that the sky is about to fall in on us. The cypress bush, a usually inconspicuous and solemn funeral plant seems almost sinister as it confronts us right smack in front of the picture. It's as if Van Gogh was creating his own kind of reality and chose to emphasise objects he felt were important to him even though this resulted in perspectives being distorted. The painting seems to be seething with life as the fluid brushstrokes give the impression of movement. In particular, it's the night sky that seems to be the life force of this piece with its bursting dynamism. It seems as if galaxies are in motion and that the stars would plunge into the sleepy town at any moment. The stars and the sky seem to possess such great emotional intensity with its variety of strokes and colours all merging together to form a spiral-like mist in the centre. The cypress, on the other hand, seems to somewhat dampen the dazzling effect of the night sky with its writhing, dark leaves sprawling up on the left side of the picture. It has this snaky form to it and seems totally uncharacteristic with the rest of the painting. It disturbs the whole equilibrium to what had could have been a magical depiction of a starry night. Dondis states that the human eye usually favours the lower left area of any visual field and it seems that Van Gogh had quite deliberately painted the cypress bush in such a prominent position. A possible interpretation could be that the bush was a representation

of the inner anguish he was going through at that time. The turmoil he was going through might have been writhing out the intensity he had for life. The little houses, on the other hand, seem pretty quiet. All the lights are out and everybody's asleep, unaware of the night sky that's bursting with life and the cypress bush writhing in front of them. This depicts some sort of alienation and ignorance. I feel that the sleepy village represents the rest of the world, unaware of whatever raging passions and agony Van Gogh was going through at that moment. Perhaps this is why the houses seem to appear so far away even though they are actually more or less in the foreground. My interpretation of Starry Night is just one of the many and it remains very much an elusive work to art critics and students alike. Because nobody really knows Van Gogh's intention of painting this piece, everybody seems to be using different codes to decipher what Van Gogh was trying to bring across. One critic thought of this as a religious piece depicting a story from the Bible. In the book of Genesis, Joseph has a dream of eleven stars, the sun and moon (the moon and sun appear to be merged together here) that symbolised his brothers and parents bowing down to him. Another academic thought this painting to be a convergence of historical forces as it was during this time when there was a public fascination with astronomy and astrology with people like Jules Verne writing about travelling to the moon. For me, I've always had this sentimental idea of him as this tragic, angst-filled artist who actually wanted to do so much for humanity (he was once an evangelist) but was constantly being rejected by society. This painting communicated to me this love he had for Gods beautiful creations, and yet, there is this unmistakable sense of loneliness as if no one really saw the world as he saw it. Of course, to understand his style of painting in Starry Night a little better, we have to look at the big picture. Vincent Van Gogh was one of the great postimpressionist artists along the likes of Czanne and Gauguin. Postimpressionism was basically a reaction against impressionism, which ascribed to the belief that art should accurately reflect reality with natural colour and lighting. Postimpressionists believed that art is not meant to imitate form, but to create form. This means that artists of this period took a subjective view of the visual world and painted their world according to their own artistic perceptions. As Van Gogh himself said, "We may succeed in creating a more exciting and comforting nature than we can discern with a single glimpse of reality." This is why postimpressionist artists have no fixed style -- their works reflected their own unique personalities and perceptions. In Van Gogh's case, his works seemed to reflect a great emotional intensity, like that seen in Starry Night. He told his brother Theo that instead of using colours realistically, he would rather use them "more arbitrarily in order to express myself more forcibly". In particular, he liked to paint landscapes that reflected his own emotions and soul. In a way, there is this sense of liberation as he departed from the traditional artistic boundaries. Starry Night is the embodiment of Van Gogh's unique style and expression. Indeed, pieces such as these have played a major influence on modern art.

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Starry Night Analysis Page's Content
Composition Use of color Use of Light Mood, Tone and Emotion Brushstroke

Starry Night Composition

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Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh

The night sky depicted by van Gogh in the Starry Night painting is brimming with whirling clouds, shining stars, and a bright crescent moon. The setting is one that viewers can relate to and van Goghs swirling sky directs the viewers eye around the painting, with spacing between the stars and the curving contours creating a dot-to-dot effect. These internal elements ensure fluidity and such contours were important for the artist even though they were becoming less significant for other Impressionists. Thus Starry Nights composition was distinct from the Impressionist technique of the 19th century. The artist was aware that his Starry Night composition was somewhat surreal and stylized and in a letter to his brother he even referred to "exaggerations in terms of composition. " The vivid style chosen by van Gogh was unusual - he chose lines to portray this night scene when silhouettes would have been a more obvious choice. In Starry Night contoured forms are a means of expression and they are used to convey emotion. Many feel that van Goghs turbulent quest to overcome his illness is reflected in the dimness of the night sky. The village is painted with dark colors but the brightly lit windows create a sense of comfort. The village is peaceful in comparison to the dramatic night sky and the silence of the night can almost be felt in Starry Night. The steeple dominates the village and symbolizes unity in the town. In terms of composition, the church steeple gives an impression of size and isolation. In the left foreground is a curvy cypress tree which is typically associated with mourning. It is painted in the same way as the sky with fluid lines which enhances the flow of the Starry Night painting well as its easiness on the eye.

Starry Night Use of color

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Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh

Van Goghs choice of color in Starry Night has been much debated, particularly the dominance of yellow in this and other late works. Some believe van Gogh may have been suffering from lead poisoning or a type of brain disease and that this explains his strange use of color in later paintings. Van Gogh's use of white and yellow creates a spiral effect and draws attention to the sky. Vertical lines such as the cypress tree and church tower softly break up the composition without retracting from the powerful night sky depicted in Starry Night. Vincent van Goghs choice of dark blues and greens were complemented with touches of mint green showing the reflection of the moon. The buildings in the centre of the painting are small blocks of yellows, oranges, and greens with a dash of red to the left of the church. The dominance of blue in Starry Night is balanced by the orange of the night sky elements. Van Gogh paints the rich colors of the night and this corresponds with the true character of this Starry Night, whereby colors are used to suggest emotion.

Starry Night Use of Light

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Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh

Van Goghs passion for nighttime is evident in the Starry Night painting, where the powerful sky sits above the quiet town. It seems that van Gogh is contrasting life and death with luminous stars and a gloomy, peaceful village. The main light sources are the bright stars and crescent moon.

Starry Night Mood, Tone and Emotion

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Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh

There are various interpretations of Starry Night and one is that this canvas depicts hope. It seems that van Gogh was showing that even with a dark night such as this it is still possible to see light in the windows of the houses. Furthermore, with shining stars filling the sky, there is always light to guide you. It seems that van Gogh was finally being cured of his illness and had essentially found his heaven. He also knew that in death he would be at peace and further portrays this by using bold colors in the Starry Night painting. In a letter to his brother, Theo, van Gogh comments: "I should not be surprised if you liked the Starry Night and the Ploughed Fields, there is a greater quiet about them than in the other canvases. " Later in the letter he makes reference to Leo Tolstoys book My Religion and its lack of belief in resurrection. Such fleeting mentions of religion echoed van Goghs feelings towards the subject at this time; he could neither forget it nor totally accept it. Despite this, his use of the word 'quiet' and reference to Tolstoys book indicates that the night sky made him feel calm and brought to mind eternity. Starry Night shows the vast power of nature and the church spire and cypress tree - representing man and nature - both point to the heavens.

Starry Night Brushstroke

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Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh

In Starry Night van Goghs unique, thick brush strokes are very much obvious and its possible that his severe attacks further dramatized his brush work. However, there is a consistency to his technique that adds even more depth as well as a rich texture to this work of art.

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The Meaning Of Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night

The painting by Vincent Van Gogh of the Starry Night has been duplicated time and time again by artists all over the world. It is one of the most recognizable pieces of art and is available in posters and many other forms in peoples homes. The Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night has a significant meaning because of where Van Gogh was when he painted the picture as well as his hopes and dreams prior. When Van Gogh was younger, he was thinking about dedicating his life to those living in poverty through evangelization. This religious undertaking helped him to create the Starry Night painting that everyone knows today. He was in an asylum in 1889 when he painted the image of the night sky with stars sparkling in the moonlight. Count the stars and there will be 11 of them. Genesis 37:9 reads, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more, and behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. It is believed that the Van Gogh Starry Night is derived from this religious inspiration, which could very well be true because of the number of stars in the painting.

There are a significant amount of aspects to the Starry Night that attracts people to the painting beyond the bright colors of blue and yellow. The features are very exaggerated. Each of the stars has its own orb around them, helping people to view the movement as if Van Gogh was in a daydream when he wrote it. It could also have been part of his hallucinations and delusions, part of which makes the Starry Night such a significantly important piece in the art world.

The night sky and the crescent moon puts a person at ease, which, given where the Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night was created, an asylum, it reasons to believe that Van Gogh painted this in order to put his mind at rest for a little while.

When the stars are followed down into the rolling hills of the horizon, this demonstrates the world thatVincent Van Gogh left behind when he entered into the asylum. The windows of the buildings are reminiscent of the homes he lived in as a child and there is a steeple of a church that was included in the Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night as a way of remembering how he had wanted to dedicate his life to religious actions. A deeper look at the Starry Night and one can see that there is a very large structure in the darkness on the left. This is often thought to mean how Van Gogh felt isolated from the rest of the world. This was his view of life in general and could speak a lot about his peace of mind when he painted this image. He had admitted himself into Saint Remy, however he still felt very isolated from the world. Most of his work during this time was of the asylum itself as well as the world outside of the asylum, usually at night.

The meaning of Vincent Van Gogh Starry Night has a lot to do with his mental state at the time that it was painted. Everyone views it as bright and uplifting, however when broken down piece by piece, it is often viewed as an ill man who is trying to have one last piece of contact with the outside world as he remembers it.