Have you seen “The Starry Night” painting? It’s widely popular over the internet and often used as an ‘aesthetic wallpaper’. It has become one of the most loved paintings among the people over the years. The artist, Vincent Van Gogh has added some unique elements which not only catches attention but also surprises the viewers eyes. Here's the backstory of the painting that's unlike anything we've ever seen.
 |
| The Starry Night Image by Perlinator/Pixabay |
The painting was created in June 1889 using oil on canvas as the medium. It was inspired from the view outside Vincent’s window from Saint-Paul-De-Mausole asylum, located in the South of France. Vincent was prone to manic episodes at times. Even during his years of suffering, he was more determined than ever to paint. Some doctors thought that painting helped him cope with his illness and become healthier.
Vincent was undoubtedly a hard working soul. He spent most of his time with colors and canvases in the asylum, and completed nearly 150 paintings there. He was fascinated by the beauty of nature, which is why his paintings conveyed a strong emotional connection to it. The Starry Night is also one such unique painting capturing nature at night.
The Starry Night is an amalgamation of various schools of painting. It is certainly not ‘western realism' yet it is not completely similar to the Japanese prints. Though striking similarities to Hokusai’s “The Great Wave” can be seen. Considering that Vincent was also inspired by Japanese prints, he must have incorporated those elements. But overall, the painting stands out as a unique form of expressionism.
Since art has the ability to be interpreted in a variety of ways, analysts have tried to dive deep into finding the true meaning of the painting. It appears as a distorted perspective to some, while others see it as a dreamy interpretation of the night sky. Analysts state that the tall cypress trees that are shown in the painting bear a deeper meaning. The flame like trees shown in the painting were much smaller in reality. It is believed that it has a meaning connected to life cycle and death, as per the Mediterranean culture. On the other hand some believe that Vincent was using cypress as a symbol of eternity, and it is a hopeful interpretation as the tree appears to reach towards the sky or heaven.
The interpretations were also as unique as the painting itself. Not only art enthusiasts but even physicists have analyzed this painting. The sky had a swirling effect in the painting, similar to the picture of galaxies that were seen years later. Physicist Jose Luis Argon observed that Vincent’s representation of the turbulent play of light and dark in the sky is astonishingly similar to that of the turbulence in whirlpools and air streams. He was somehow able to accurately capture the agitation, which continues to amaze the viewers till date.
When we think of painting a night sky, what comes to our minds? Probably a dark blue sky with white spots showcasing the sparkling star, right? Whereas Vincent wrote in one of his letters, “The night is even more richly colored than the day”. He added that it has intense blues, violets and greens. “It’s clear that to paint a starry sky it’s not nearly enough to put white spots on blue-black”, he wrote in 1888.
This explains why he used the contrasting blues and yellows. During the last few years, Vincent had developed his bright palette using contrast elements of colors along with thick outlines and simplified forms. It was like an impasto technique that he uniquely developed using very thick paint and brush strokes.These thick strokes also act as a catalyst to the optical-illusion-like effect that the painting conveys.
Vincent had also painted a similar kind of a night sky before, “Starry Night over Rhone” depicting the night view of Arles city in France. While writing about the Night paintings, Vincent addressed these as his “study of night” or the “night effect” in the letters.
 |
| Vincent Van Gogh Image by heblo/Pixabay |
Some also believe that it is simply the artist’s glimpse of how the sky looked in June 1889. In the lower part of the painting, there are also mountains and villages. Venus was identified as the dominant star visible near the massive cypress tree. However, the moon was not a crescent in reality, as depicted in the painting. This shows that some elements were a product of his imagination or perhaps he continued to paint during the day with his memory of what the night looked like. Vincent’s brother Theo had also remarked at the time that this painting “favored style over substance”.
Considering what Vincent wrote to Theo, it appears that Vincent believed that this painting was a failure. But luckily enough, he did not paint over this artwork as he did with many of his previous ones. Today, The Starry Night has become an icon of modern art. The painting is kept in the Museum of Modern Art New York since 1941.
In a short span as an artist, he created more than 800 paintings and even continued to paint over the years he suffered through his illness. Vincent’s love for nature and his unique interpretation of the night sky continues to impress the viewers and inspire the artists.
“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream”
- Vincent Van Gogh