Priya Kapoor
The Starry Night, painted by Vincent van Gogh in June 1889, is one of the most famous paintings in the world. It is an oil-on-canvas work, created while van Gogh was staying at the Saint-Paul asylum in Saint-Rémy, France, where he lived for a year following a breakdown and an act of self-mutilation. The painting depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room just before sunrise, with the addition of an imaginary village. The view had been sketched by van Gogh from his bedroom window on multiple occasions, and the painting was executed in his ground-floor studio. Van Gogh applied the paint in thick layers of rhythmic brushstrokes, resulting in a highly textured surface. The swirling night sky, with its radiating concentric rings of light, is the most dynamic part of the painting, contrasting with the quiet village nestled in the lower third of the canvas.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 73.7 x 92.1 cm |
| Location | Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City |
| Inspiration | View from Van Gogh's window at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France |
| Subject | Starry sky, crescent moon, swirling clouds, village, cypress tree |
| Colours | Deep blues, vivid yellows, glowing stars |
| Brushstrokes | Thick, rhythmic, textured |
| Artistic Influences | Japanese woodblock prints |
| Number of Versions | 21 |
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What You'll Learn
Van Gogh's use of oil paints and canvas
The Starry Night was painted using oil paints on canvas, a traditional medium that Van Gogh favoured. Oil paints were a common choice for artists of the time, as they offered a wide range of colours and allowed for a high degree of control and precision. Van Gogh's use of oil paints contributed to the richness and depth of the final work, with its swirling patterns and vibrant hues.
The painting measures approximately 73.7 by 92.1 centimetres, a relatively small canvas that belies its vast and expansive subject matter. The canvas size allowed Van Gogh to focus on the intricate details of the scene, such as the towering cypress tree in the foreground and the swirling stars and sky.
Van Gogh's technique involved applying paint directly from the tubes, creating thick, impasto brushstrokes that gave the painting a textured, three-dimensional quality. This impasto technique, combined with his bold use of contrasting colours, adds to the dynamic energy of the composition. The thick layers of paint also result in a highly textured surface, enhancing the sense of movement and depth within the painting.
The Starry Night is a testament to Van Gogh's mastery of oil paints and canvas, showcasing his ability to create a dream-like image that continues to captivate and inspire generations of artists and art enthusiasts.
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The painting's emotional turmoil and religious symbolism
The Starry Night, painted in June 1889, is one of Vincent van Gogh's most famous works. The painting depicts the view from the artist's asylum room window at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise. It is renowned for its intense expression and distinctive painting technique, with swirling clouds and a dynamic sky occupying most of the canvas. The painting is dominated by shades of blue, evoking a profound and melancholic mood, while the glowing moon and stars in golden yellow tones provide a striking contrast, creating an emotional dynamic within the painting.
The emotional turmoil reflected in the painting is often linked to Van Gogh's mental state at the time of its creation. The turbulent sky may represent his restless thoughts and inner conflicts, while the serene village below could symbolize the peace he longed for but struggled to attain. The painting may also reflect his religious struggles and his search for a deeper meaning in nature and the cosmos.
Van Gogh's use of colour and symbolism contributes to the emotional depth of the painting. The towering cypress tree, reaching towards the sky, has been interpreted as a symbol of immortality and a direct connection between earth and heaven. The artist himself likened death to a train travelling to the stars in a letter to his brother, Theo. The stars themselves, painted in citron-yellow, may represent Christ, reflecting Van Gogh's spiritual associations and his religious admiration for the painter Eugène Delacroix.
Art historian Loevgren interprets the painting as "an infinitely expressive picture which symbolizes the final absorption of the artist by the cosmos", reflecting Van Gogh's "religiously inclined longing for the beyond". The painting's religious symbolism is further supported by art historian Lauren Soth, who views it as a "sublimated image of [Van Gogh's] deepest religious feelings".
The Starry Night, with its emotional intensity and symbolic content, provides a window into Van Gogh's inner world during a turbulent period in his life, reflecting his search for peace, his religious struggles, and his fascination with the majesty of the universe.
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The view from his asylum window
The Starry Night, painted in June 1889, is one of Vincent van Gogh's most famous works. The painting depicts the view from the artist's asylum window at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. Van Gogh admitted himself to the asylum following a mental breakdown and an act of self-mutilation.
The view from his east-facing window, which Van Gogh painted variations of at least 21 times, was of an enclosed square of wheat fields and the Alpilles mountain range in the distance. The pictorial element uniting all of these paintings is the diagonal line coming in from the right, depicting the low rolling hills of the Alpilles mountains. In 15 of the 21 versions, cypress trees are visible beyond the far wall enclosing the wheat field. In The Starry Night, the towering cypress tree in the foreground connects and bisects land and sky. The tree's branches resemble flames and its dark colour suggests it is the nearest object to the viewer.
The painting's celestial elements include Venus, which was visible in the sky at the time, and a crescent moon, which is not astronomically accurate. The sky is filled with swirling stars, which have radiating concentric rings of light. The moon has the same set of rings around it, and the various blues that Van Gogh uses are positioned in swirling patterns. The village in the painting is an imaginary addition, based on sketches rather than the actual landscape seen from the asylum. The blue-grey church stands in the centre of the town, its pointed steeple barely breaching the horizon.
Van Gogh was not allowed to paint in his room, so he began painting the star he had seen from memory in his ground-floor studio. He applied the paint directly from the tubes, creating the image's thick lines and intense colours. The result is a dream-like image, which stands as one of the most famous works of Western art.
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The use of thick brushstrokes and contrasting colours
Vincent van Gogh's use of thick brushstrokes and contrasting colours in "The Starry Night" is a key aspect of his style and a defining feature of the Post-Impressionist movement. The painting, created in 1889, depicts a night sky filled with swirling stars and vibrant hues, capturing the imagination of viewers and becoming an icon in the art world.
Van Gogh applied oil paint to the canvas in thick layers, using rhythmic brushstrokes that resulted in a highly textured surface. This technique, known as impasto, gives the painting a three-dimensional quality and enhances the dynamic energy of the sky and stars. The artist was known to apply paint directly from the tubes, creating the iconic thick lines and intense colours that characterise "The Starry Night".
The contrasting colours in the painting, such as deep blues and vivid yellows, add to the sense of movement and emotion in the work. Van Gogh's use of colour was not intended to be an accurate representation of the night sky but rather an expression of his inner turmoil and emotional state. The swirling patterns of blue in the sky, for example, are more than just an astronomical observation but a projection of the artist's imagination.
The thick brushstrokes and contrasting colours also serve to emphasise the elements in the foreground, such as the towering cypress tree, which dominates the lower third of the canvas. The tree, painted with dark green, brown, and black brushstrokes, creates a sense of depth and connects the land and sky. The use of thick impasto in the foreground elements helps to bring them forward, making them appear closer to the viewer.
Through his bold use of thick brushstrokes and contrasting colours, Van Gogh was able to create a sense of depth, movement, and emotion in "The Starry Night". The painting, with its iconic style and expressive use of colour, has become a foundational image for Expressionism and a touchstone of modern art.
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The inclusion of an imaginary village
The Starry Night, painted by Vincent Van Gogh in June 1889, is regarded as one of the most recognizable paintings in the Western canon. The painting depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an imaginary village. This imaginary village bears no resemblance to the real village of Saint-Rémy but draws inspiration from Van Gogh's native Holland.
The village in the painting is based on sketches rather than the actual landscape seen from the asylum. Van Gogh made several sketches for the painting, and it is believed that he composed The Starry Night using elements of previously completed works stored in his studio, as well as aspects from imagination and memory. The pictorial element uniting all of these paintings is the diagonal line coming in from the right, depicting the low rolling hills of the Alpilles mountains.
The imaginary village in The Starry Night is dominated by a blue-grey church with a pointed steeple that barely breaches the horizon. The church's spire has been argued to be more Dutch in character, possibly painted as an amalgamation of several different church spires that Van Gogh had depicted years earlier while living in the Netherlands. The village is nestled below treetops and rolling hills in the lower third of the painting, creating a sense of peace and tranquility amidst the swirling night sky above.
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Frequently asked questions
Van Gogh was inspired by the view from his window at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. He wrote to his brother Theo, "This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big."
Van Gogh used oil paint on canvas, applying thick layers of rhythmic brushstrokes to create a highly textured surface. He also employed contrasting colours, with deep blues and vivid yellows dominating the painting.
The painting depicts a mountainous landscape just before sunrise, with a towering cypress tree in the foreground and a crescent moon and swirling stars in the sky. The lower third of the painting shows a quiet village nestled below treetops and rolling hills.
