The Starry Night

The Starry Night (1889) is one of the most recognized masterpieces by Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. It is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. Historical Context Creation: Painted in June 1889, while Van Gogh was a patient at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. The View: It depicts the view from his east-facing bedroom window just before sunrise. Invention vs. Reality: While the hills and the "morning star" (Venus) were real, the village and the church spire were imagined or based on memories of his home in the Netherlands. Van Gogh's Opinion: Surprisingly, Van Gogh himself considered the painting a "failure," as he felt it leaned too far into "abstraction" rather than being true to nature. Key Features & Symbolism The Sky: Dominates three-quarters of the canvas with turbulent, swirling patterns of ultramarine and cobalt blue. Celestial Bodies: Features a glowing yellow crescent moon and eleven stars, with the largest white "star" actually representing the planet Venus. The Cypress: A dark, flame-like tree in the foreground. Often seen as a symbol of death and mourning, it also acts as a visual bridge connecting the earth to the heavens. Technique: Defined by thick impasto brushstrokes, where paint is applied heavily to create texture and a sense of "roiling" movement. Scientific Interest Fluid Dynamics: Modern researchers have found that the swirling patterns in the sky uncannily mirror the mathematical laws of turbulent flow in fluid dynamics, captured decades before science could formally describe them.