Starry Night Analysis

The Starry Night was painted out of oil paints, onto a canvas. by the painter Vincent van Gogh in June 1889 in France. It’s one of the most well-known and reproduced pieces of art in the world today. Most people couldn’t understand the meaning behind it. As well, many art scholars believe that this painting seems to have a hidden religious meaning. Starry Night has lines that are horizontal, diagonal, vertical and curved. The curved lines come together to form a flowing look where the horizontal, diagonal, and vertical lines come together to form a town, along with land. There are other objects that appeared in this painting like bushes, swirls, stars and a moon.

All these objects helped to form the calmness of the picture. While Vincent was in France he experienced very harsh weather condition which inspired him to paint this picture, showing the violent winds they had in that town. One of ''Starry Night' distinctive characteristics is that he used tough, abrupt lines to depict how rough the weather and wind were. Van Gogh filled his picture with imagination and emotion where almost every object in this painting expresses a feeling. What I liked about this painting is that the wind appeared to be whirling with excitement and the bright starts looked like fireworks bursting in the night. Below the dazzling sky, Van Gogh painted a calm, quite town.

This landscape painting keeps the viewer eyes busy because the texture of this painting is heavy and it has deep high equality of colors where it was divided between the sky and the landscape. Vincent Van Gough has divided the image into various parts that were occupied by stars, moon, clouds, hills, trees, and houses. As well, when looking at this image you will see a tall pointy steeple which resembles church in the center of the painting. From one composition to another the curvy wavy lines are more complex in shapes and spaces. The several elements of designs such as spirals and circles in the sky catch viewers’ attention. The use of the color white and yellow by Van Gogh creates a spiraling effect and draws attention to sky. Vertical lines such as the cypress tree and church tower gently break up the structure without retracting from the powerful night sky depicted in Starry Night.

The selection of dark blues and greens by Vincent van Gogh was complemented by touches of mint green illustrating the moon\'s reflection. As well, the size of the moon and the light that reflects off also balances the cypress tree. The stroke marks movement through the sky shows the wind\'s movement. By the size and lines displayed, the cypress tree reveals huge emphasis throughout the color. Variety is shown by the stroke of each row throughout the painting. The Starry Night shows cool color with the exception of yellow in the lamps in the moon, star and windows. Moreover, the overall use of the color blue in the painting creates an emotion that is calm and peaceful.

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