A Study Of Van Gogh Starry Night And His Other Paintings
Van Gogh Starry Night is an oil painting on a canvas substrate. It was painted in 1889 by the Dutch post-impressionist, Vincent Van Gogh (VVG)(1853-1890) shortly before he shot himself and died at the age of 37. While it is considered by many to be his ‘opus magnum’, or greatest work, this notion should not detract from the magnificence of his nearly 900 other fine efforts. The original painting of The Starry Night has been hanging in the United States Museum of Modern Art for more than sixty years.
The cypress tree that dominates the foreground of the painting was a recurring element in many of the pictures Van Gogh produced in the last year of his life. It features in ‘The Poets Garden IV’ (1888), ‘Wheatfield With Cypresses’ (1889), ‘Cypresses’ (1889), Cypresses with Two Female Figures’ (1889), ‘Cypresses and Two Women’ (1890) and ‘Road With Cypress and Star’ (1890).
The painting is technically undemanding. This begs the question of why it has so much appeal. The child-like simplicity reflected in the short brush strokes could possibly appeal to the inner child within all of us. ‘The Starry Night’ is one of the most sought-after prints in the entire world. It was created towards the end of the artist’s life, a time of such profound inner turmoil that he was confined to an asylum.
Van Gogh made skilful use of a technique called, ‘chiaroscuro’. Translated directly from Italian it means ‘light-dark’. It is a method used by painters to create an aura of depth and to give the work a third dimension. VVG uses this technique quite a lot, especially in his floral still life paintings. Examples, all of them painted in Paris during the year 1886, include, ‘Vase with Zinnias and Geraniums’, ‘Vase with Mysotis and Peonies’, ‘Vase with Carnations’, ‘Vase with Zinnias and Other Flowers’, and ‘Vase with Zinnias’.
He also uses flowers to provide us with a glimpse into the hell which he was experiencing. ‘Vase with Gladioli and Carnations’ and ‘Vase with Red Gladioli’ (both Paris, 1886) show the scarlet blooms licking the canvas like so many tongues of fire.
He was an expert at the mundane come to life and express a character. ‘A Pair of Shoes’, painted in Paris, 1886, shows a pair of heavily worn old boots sitting in front of a pool of light in a darkened room. The observer sees evidence of a long, hard day’s work and a man sitting in front of the fireplace with his feet up, enjoying a well-deserved break. The only colors the artist has used are blacks, grays and greenish tinges of light.
One of his most vibrant paintings is ‘Fourteenth of July Celebration in Paris’. Here, he uses reds, yellows and purples to dizzying effect to illustrate an explosion of fireworks. The people underneath watching are all clothed in black and the center of the blast is muted with dark tones.
One of his most surreal works is ‘Skull with Burning Cigarette’. The subject could easily be a poster boy for campaign to encourage people to quite smoking. It was painted in Antwerp, Belgium, during the winter of 1885-1886. It is currently displayed in the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands.
Van Gogh Starry Night is one of the most famous paintings in the world. You can visit our online store to view our fantastic selection of hand-painted reproductions of paintings by Van Gogh, now.