The Starry Night - Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh painted The Starry Night [1889, Oil on canvas 29x36 1/4" (73.7x92.1 cm) Moma, New York] in June 1889, 13 months before his death at the age of 37. The Starry Night is probably the most popular painting in the modern cultural.

The Starry Night is a scene most of us feel comfortable and at easy with. The night sky is filled with swirling clouds, blinking stars and the bright crescent moon. A small town lies below the rolling hills. At the center point of the town is a tall steeple church which is reigning over the smaller buildings. The steeple casts a stability sense on the town.

Van Gogh had mentioned the morning stars and his desire to paint them in his letter to his sister: "At present I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that night is still more richly colored than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues, and greens. If only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. ... it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky." (Letter to Wilhelmina van Gogh, 16 September 1888)