Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" (1989) has proven, through out time, to be an outstanding demonstration of how emotions can be conveyed through color and brushstroke. This famous plethora of blue was created while he was confined to the Saint-Remy Asylum. It was one of the last major paintings he ever produced and one of the earliest examples of expressionism. This "night" exhibits a variety of moods, objects, and atmosphere. With the use of color, texture, and descriptive objects, Van Gogh develops a marvelous painting that will always be remembered for its beauty and mystery. .
The Sky.
"The Starry Night- is an oil-on-canvas depiction of a night scene in France portraying a cypress tree in the foreground along with a twisted yet mesmerizing sky, eleven explosive and magnified stars, and a quaint little village. The overwhelming night sky takes up most of the background. Van Gogh painted the sky with overlapping, rapid, and curving strokes that created a great dynamic, swirling motion. It's the night sky that seems to function as the life force, providing joie de vivre (joy of life) to this masterpiece. Galaxies are in motion and the stars could very well plunge into this sleepy town at any moment. The celestial imagery possesses grandeur of emotional intensity portrayed thru a variety of strokes and colors, all merging together to form a "corkscrew" in the center.
Eleven Stars and Moon.
There are eleven stars along with the moon and sun giving the impression of unification. All, extremely exaggerated, appear so colossal that the feeling of the sky's collapse seems perfectly logical. Their circular shapes help separate them both from the others as well as the rest of the picture. The moon and the stars add luminosity to an otherwise desolate and cold rendering. The crescent moon at the top right corner radiates an orange, brighter light from the rest of the stars; this in part is due to its possession of a bolder halo.
