Starry Night

If you are an artist, then you must be familiar with the famous Starry Night painting by Vincent Van Gogh. The masterpiece was painted in 1888 when Vincent Van Gogh was in Arles and claimed to be in terrible need for a religion. This masterpiece clearly brings out the genius in Van Gogh, whose works were not really appreciated much until years later after his death. Studies have suggested the Starry Night painting was inspired by hallucinations brought about by his epileptic condition while others point to the frustration in his life during that time as the inspiration for the painting. Regardless, the genius strokes behind the canvas cannot be denied.

The Starry Night painting basically shows a typical night view as seen from Van Gogh’s room. After 1940, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City has been the home of the famous painting. One may probably wonder what makes the famous painting so popular and unique. There are dozens of items that or of interest in the painting. Although some images generate common understanding, some affect each person differently, generating different opinions all together.

To begin, the painting has a night sky filled with clouds and stars that appear to be ablaze. A crescent moon is also evident in the blue sky. Many viewers find the sky image interesting and comforting to look at. The images that bring out the dark sky keep viewers glued to the curves used as the other images take hold.

A small town is seen down the hills while a peaceful environment is depicted from the painting, bringing forth a feeling of warm childhood memories of the painter. There is a tall steeple of a church at the center of the town that dominates the other smaller buildings. Stability in the painting is created by the steeple, which also brings out seclusion and size. These two show the kind of influence religion had around the town. During his younger years, Van Gogh desired to help the poor through evangelization.

The left part of the masterpiece contains a large dark structure. While most objects are smaller, this stricter is comparably larger. There are different interpretations of the structure, ranging from leafy bushes to a mountain or large hill.

After the first famous painting in 1888, Vincent Van Gogh was so happy and proud with the work that he depicted the stars reflecting River Rhone in a new painting called the Starry Night Over The Rhone. Similar to the Starry Night, the new work of art had a number of noticeable features. For example, the stars included were also surrounded by their own ray of light and the structures that could be seen farther away had a glow of light similar to those in the first painting. Also, reflection of the artificial light was used to make the painting glow; a similar feature as that of the Starry Night. One major aspect that featured only in the new painting is humans. On the painting, you will recognize a couple is walking by a river, which adds life to the masterpiece.