According to the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, it is quite easy to trace the history of the artist’s illness: from gray plots gravitating towards realism to bright, floating motifs, where both hallucination and oriental images fashionable at that time were mixed.
The Starry Night is one of Van Gogh's most recognizable paintings. Night is the time of the artist. Getting drunk, he rowdy and forgot himself in revelry. But he could also go melancholy to the open air. “I still need religion. Therefore, I left the house at night and began to draw stars, ”Vincent wrote to his brother Theo. What did Van Gogh see in the night sky?
Plot
Night enveloped the imaginary city. In the foreground are cypresses. These trees, with their gloomy dark green foliage, in ancient tradition symbolized sadness, death. (It is no coincidence that cypress trees are often planted in cemeteries.) In the Christian tradition, cypress is a symbol of eternal life. (This tree grew in the Garden of Eden and, presumably, Noah's Ark was built from it.) In Van Gogh, the cypress plays both roles: it is the sadness of the artist, who will soon commit suicide, and the eternity of the run of the universe.
To show movement, to give dynamics to the frozen night, Van Gogh came up with a special technique - drawing the moon, stars, sky, he put strokes in a circle. This, combined with color transitions, gives the impression that the light is spilling.
Context
Vincent painted the picture in 1889 in the Saint-Paul hospital for the mentally ill in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. It was a period of remission, so Van Gogh asked to go to his studio in Arles. But the residents of the city signed a petition demanding that the artist be expelled from the city. “Dear Mayor,” the document says, “we the undersigned would like to draw your attention to the fact that this Dutch artist (Vincent van Gogh) has lost his mind and drinks too much. And when he gets drunk, he sticks to women and children. Van Gogh will never return to Arles.
Drawing en plein air at night fascinated the artist. The depiction of color was of paramount importance to Vincent: even in letters to his brother Theo, he often describes objects using different colors. Less than a year before The Starry Night, he wrote The Starry Night Over the Rhone, where he experimented with rendering the shades of the night sky and artificial lighting, which was new at the time.
The fate of the artist
Van Gogh lived 37 troubled and tragic years. Growing up as an unloved child, who was perceived as a son born instead of an older brother who died a year before the birth of a boy, the severity of his father-pastor, poverty - all this affected Van Gogh's psyche.
Not knowing what to devote himself to, Vincent could not finish his studies anywhere: either he quit, or he was expelled for violent antics and a sloppy look. Painting was an escape from the depression Van Gogh faced after failing with women and failing to build a career as a dealer and missionary.
Van Gogh also refused to study as an artist, believing that he could master everything on his own. However, it was not so easy - Vincent never learned to draw a person. His paintings attracted attention, but were not in demand.
Prisoner's Walk, 1890
Disappointed and saddened, Vincent left for Arles with the intention of creating a "Workshop of the South" - a kind of fraternity of like-minded artists working for future generations. It was then that Van Gogh's style took shape, which is known today and the artist himself described as follows: "Instead of trying to accurately depict what is before my eyes, I use color more arbitrarily, so as to express myself most fully."
In Arles, the artist lived a binge in every sense. He wrote a lot and drank a lot. Drunken fights frightened the locals, who eventually even asked to expel the artist from the city.
In Arles, the famous incident with Gauguin also occurred, when, after another quarrel, Van Gogh attacked a friend with a razor in his hands, and then, either as a sign of repentance, or in another attack, he cut off his earlobe. All circumstances are still unknown. However, the day after this incident, Vincent was taken to a hospital, and Gauguin left. They didn't meet again.
The last 2.5 months of his torn life, Van Gogh painted 80 paintings. And the doctor did think that Vincent was all right. But one evening he closed himself and did not go out for a long time. The neighbors, who suspected something was wrong, opened the door and found Van Gogh shot through the chest. It was not possible to help him - the 37-year-old artist died.
Hello!
Today we will be writing a free copy of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. This is one of the most famous and recognizable paintings ever made. The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh is a symbol of the power of the human imagination, one of the most amazing and incredible landscapes imaginable.
In the course of working on the painting, we will try to get at least a little closer to the author’s technique, to convey the dynamism inherent in this work, the rhythm and pastiness of the brushstroke. We will try to guess the mood and energy of the picture.
How did Vincent van Gogh paint his painting?
It is possible that one night, Vincent van Gogh left the house, armed with canvas, brushes and paints, with a completely convincing intention to paint the most incredible landscape, with the most incredible stars, moon, light, sky, wind ...
Let's take a close look at the painting by Vincent van Gogh, admire it, try to catch all the details and start writing our Starry Night.
Vincent van Gogh paints "Starry Night"
The process of writing this picture and the result of the work will make you fall in love with this picture and the work of the author.
One of the most famous paintings - "Starry Night" by Van Gogh - is currently located in one of the halls of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It was created in 1889 and is one of the most famous works of the great artist.
History of the painting
The Starry Night is one of the most famous and popular works of fine art of the 19th century. The painting was painted in 1889 and it perfectly conveys the unique and inimitable style of the greatest
In 1888, Vincent van Gogh was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy after being attacked by Paul and having his earlobe cut off. This year the great artist lived in France, in the town of Arles. After the inhabitants of this city appealed to the mayor's office with a collective complaint about the "violent" painter, Vincent van Gogh ended up in Saint-Remy-de-Provence - a village for the year of residence in this place, the artist painted more than 150 paintings, among which this very famous masterpiece of fine art.
Starry Night, Van Gogh. Description of the picture
A distinctive feature of the picture is the incredible dynamism, which eloquently conveys the emotional experiences of the great artist. Images in the moonlight at that time had their own ancient traditions, and yet no artist could convey such a force and power of a natural phenomenon as Vincent van Gogh. "Starry Night" is not written spontaneously, like many of the master's works, it is carefully thought out and arranged.
The incredible energy of the whole picture is concentrated mainly in the symmetrical, unified and continuous movement of the crescent of the moon, stars and the sky itself. Overwhelming inner experiences are wonderfully balanced by the trees depicted in the foreground, which, in turn, balance the entire panorama.
Painting style
It is worth paying utmost attention to the surprisingly synchronized movement of heavenly bodies in the night sky. Vincent van Gogh deliberately depicted the stars greatly enlarged in order to convey the flickering light of the entire halo. The light from the moon also looks pulsating, and the spiral swirls are very harmonious in conveying the stylized image of the galaxy.
All the riot of the night sky is balanced, thanks to the landscape of the city depicted in dark color and cypress trees that frame the picture from below. The night city and trees effectively complement the panorama of the night sky, giving it a feeling of heaviness and gravity. Of particular importance is the village depicted in the lower right corner of the picture. He seems serenely calm in relation to the dynamic firmament.
Of no small importance is the color scheme of the painting "Starry Night" by Van Gogh. Lighter shades blend harmoniously with the dark foreground. And the special technique of drawing with strokes of various lengths and directions makes this picture more expressive compared to the previous works of this artist.
Reflections on the painting "Starry Night" and the work of Van Gogh
Like many masterpieces, Van Gogh's Starry Night almost immediately became fertile ground for all sorts of interpretations and discussions. Astronomers began to count the stars depicted in the picture, trying to determine which constellation they belong to. Geographers unsuccessfully tried to find out what kind of city is depicted at the bottom of the work. However, the fruits of research of neither one nor the other were not crowned with success.
It is only known for certain that, drawing "Starry Night", Vincent deviated from the usual manner of writing from nature.
Another interesting fact is that the creation of this picture, according to scientists and researchers, was influenced by the ancient legend of Joseph from the Old Testament. Although the artist was not considered a fan of theological teachings, the theme of eleven stars appears eloquently in Van Gogh's Starry Night.
Many years have passed since the great artist created this painting, and a programmer from Greece has created an interactive version of this masterpiece of painting. Thanks to a special technology, you can control the flow of paints with your fingertips. The spectacle is amazing!
Vincent Van Gogh. Painting "Starry night". Does it have a hidden meaning?
Books and songs are written about this picture, it is also in electronic publications. And, perhaps, it is difficult to find a more expressive artist than Vincent van Gogh. The painting "Starry Night" is the clearest proof of this. fine art still inspires poets, musicians and other artists to create unique works.
Until now, there was no consensus about this picture. Whether the disease affected her writing, whether there is some hidden meaning in this work - the current generation can only guess about it. It is possible that this is just a picture that the inflamed mind of the artist saw. However, this is a completely different world, accessible only to the eyes of Vincent van Gogh.
Vincent van Gogh is a rather mysterious person, his creative path went through alcohol addiction and stay in a mental hospital.
History of creation
The painting "Starry Night" was created by the author in 1889 in the Saint-Remy-de-Provence hospital. This painting is considered a masterpiece. It is located in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. While in the clinic, the artist painted about 150 works. Van Gogh's brother Theo took care of permission to paint in the hospital. To distract himself from the attacks that tormented the author, he could paint several pictures in a day. This work was created by Van Gogh from memory, and not from nature. This makes it stand out from the rest of the paintings.
Painting composition
In the painting "Starry Night" a special place is occupied by the crescent and stars. They immediately grab the attention of the viewer due to the special technique of performance. The light emanating from the moon and stars creates the appearance of a spiral, which only emphasizes the unsurpassed beauty of the heavenly bodies in the picture. In his creation, the artist tries to combine unattainable greatness (stars, moon) and earthly life (cypress, village). Cypress trees seem to want to touch the sky, to join the gentle dance of the luminaries. Due to the peculiarity of the strokes, it seems that the heavenly bodies are moving in the sky.
On the right side, the artist depicted the village. The blue color of the roofs reflects the moonlight even more. The picture is full of mystery and splendor, even though dark colors appear in it. But against the blue background, the yellow light of the stars and the moon looks amazing.
Technique, performance, techniques
The technique of performing the night sky, the transfer of all the necessary shades at the same time, was not yet mastered in this period. Vincent van Gogh was practically a pioneer in this field of art. The Dutch artist uses a combination of dark blue, different shades of yellow, while adding dark green, heavenly, brown shades. The color scheme impresses with its unusualness. All colors unite and complement each other, while emphasizing the subtlety and depth of the picture.
The canvas depicts 11 stars and a waning month. So the artist wanted to draw a parallel with Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles.
The author of Starry Night was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy. Prior to that, he led an immoral lifestyle, abused absinthe, worked hard. These factors led to mental disorders. In 1888, while intoxicated and quarreling with his friend Paul Gauguin, the artist cut off his earlobe. The artist's neighbors complained about him to the mayor's office because of the constant noise. So he ended up in the clinic.
"I still passionately need - I will allow myself this word - in religion. Therefore, I left the house at night and began to draw stars," Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo.
It is worth going to New York at least for the sake of meeting her, with Van Gogh's Starry Night.
Here I want to give the text of my work on the analysis of this picture. Initially, I wanted to rework the text so that it is more in line with the article for the blog, but due to failures in the Word and lack of time, I will post it in its original form, which was hardly restored after the program crashed. I hope even the original text will be at least somewhat interesting.
Vincent Van Gogh(1853-1890) - a prominent representative of post-impressionism. Despite the difficult life path and the rather late formation of Van Gogh as an artist, he was distinguished by perseverance and diligence, which helped him achieve great success in mastering the technique of drawing and painting. In the ten years of his life devoted to art, Van Gogh went from an experienced viewer (he began his career as an art dealer, so he was familiar with many works) to a master of drawing and painting. This short period became the most vivid and emotional in the life of the artist.
The personality of Van Gogh is shrouded in mystery in the representation of modern culture. Although Van Gogh left a great epistolary legacy (an extensive correspondence with his brother Theo van Gogh), descriptions of his life were compiled much later than his death and often contained fictional stories and distorted attitudes towards the artist. In this regard, there was an image of Van Gogh as a crazy artist who cut off his ear in a fit, and later shot himself completely. This image attracts the viewer with the secret creativity of the crazy artist, balancing on the verge of genius and madness and mystery. But if we examine the facts of Van Gogh's biography, his detailed correspondence, then many myths, including those about his madness, are debunked.
Van Gogh's work became available to the general public only after his death. At first, his work was attributed to different areas, but later they were included in post-impressionism. Van Gogh's handwriting is unlike anything else, so even with other representatives of post-impressionism it cannot be compared. This is a special way of applying a stroke, using different stroke techniques in one work, a certain color, expression, compositional features, means of expression. It is this characteristic style of Van Gogh that we will analyze using the example of the painting "Starry Night" in this work.
Formal stylistic analysis
The Starry Night is one of Van Gogh's most famous works. The painting was painted in June 1889 in Saint-Remy, since 1941 it has been kept at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The picture is painted in oil on canvas, dimensions - 73x92 cm, the format is a horizontally elongated rectangle, this is an easel painting. Due to the peculiarity of the technique, the picture should be viewed at a sufficient distance.
Looking at the picture, we see a night landscape. Most of the canvas is occupied by the sky - the stars, the moon, large depicted on the right, and the night sky in motion. On the right in the foreground, trees rise, and on the left below is a town or village hidden in the trees. The background is dark hills on the horizon line, gradually becoming higher from left to right. The picture, based on the described plot, undoubtedly belongs to the landscape genre. We can say that the artist brings to the fore the expressiveness and some conventionality of the depicted, since the main role in the work is played by expressive distortion (color, in the technique of strokes, etc.).
The composition of the picture as a whole is balanced - on the right, dark trees below, and on the left, a bright yellow moon above. Because of this, the composition tends to be diagonal, including because of the hills increasing from right to left. In it, the sky prevails over the earth, as it occupies most of the canvas, that is, the upper part prevails over the lower. At the same time, there is also a spiral structure in the composition, which gives the initial impetus to the movement, expressed in a spiraling stream in the sky in the center of the composition. This spiral sets in motion both part of the trees, and the stars, and the rest of the sky, the moon, and even the lower part of the composition - the village, trees, hills. Thus, the composition from the statics familiar to the landscape genre turns into a dynamic, fantastic plot that captures the viewer. Therefore, in the work it is impossible to single out the background and clear planning. The traditional background, the background, ceases to be a background, as it is included in the overall dynamics of the picture, and the foreground, if we take the trees and the village, being included in the movement in a spiral, ceases to stand out. The planness of the picture is vague and unsteady due to the combination of spiral and diagonal dynamics. Based on the compositional solution, it can be assumed that the artist's angle of view is directed from bottom to top, since most of the canvas is occupied by the sky.
Undoubtedly, in the process of perceiving a picture, the viewer is involved in interaction with the image. This is obvious from the described compositional solution and techniques, that is, the dynamics of the composition and its direction. And also thanks to the color scheme of the picture - the color scheme, bright accents, the palette, the technique of applying strokes.
Deep space is created in the picture. This is achieved due to the color solution, composition and movement of strokes, the difference in the size of strokes. Including due to the difference in the size of the depicted - large trees, a small village and trees near it, smaller hills on the horizon, a large moon and stars. The color solution builds depth due to the dark foreground of the trees, the muted colors of the village and the trees around it, the bright color accents of the stars and the moon, the dark hills on the horizon, set off by a light band of the sky.
The picture does not meet the criterion in many ways linearity, and most expresses just picturesqueness. Since all forms are expressed through color and strokes. Although in the image of the lower plan - the town, trees and hills, the distinction is used by separate contour dark lines. It can be said that the artist deliberately combines some linear aspects in order to emphasize the difference between the upper and lower planes of the picture. Therefore, the upper plan, the most important compositionally, in terms of meaning and in terms of color and technical solutions, is the most expressive and picturesque. This part of the picture is literally sculpted with color and strokes, it lacks contour or any linear elements.
Concerning flatness And depths, then the picture gravitates towards depth. This is expressed in the color scheme - contrasts, darker or smoky shades, in technique - due to the different direction of strokes, their sizes, in composition and dynamics. At the same time, the volume of objects is not clearly expressed, as it is hidden by large strokes. Volumes are only outlined by separate contour strokes or are created by color combinations of strokes.
The role of light in the picture is not significant in comparison with the role of color. But we can say that the light sources in the picture are the stars and the moon. This can be traced by the lightening of the settlement and the trees in the valley and the darker part of the valley on the left, by the dark trees in the foreground and the hills darkening on the horizon, especially located on the right under the moon.
The silhouettes of the depicted are closely related to each other. They are inexpressive due to the fact that they are written in large strokes, for the same reason the silhouettes are not valuable in themselves. They cannot be taken separately from the entire canvas. Therefore, we can talk about the desire for integrity within the picture, achieved by technology. In this regard, we can talk about the generalization of what is depicted on the canvas. There is no detail due to the scale of the depicted (far located, therefore, small towns, trees, hills) and the technical solution of the picture - drawing with large strokes, dividing the depicted into separate colors with such strokes. Therefore, it cannot be said that the picture conveys a variety of textures of the depicted. But generalized, rough and exaggerated due to the technical solution of the painting, a hint at the difference in shapes, textures, volumes is given by the direction of the strokes, their size and the actual color.
Color in "Starry Night" plays a major role. The composition, dynamics, volumes, silhouettes, depth, light obey the color. The color in the picture is not an expression of volume, but a semantic element. Thus, due to the color expression, the radiance of the stars and the moon is exaggerated. And this color expression creates not just an emphasis on them, but gives them significance within the picture, creates their semantic content. The color in the picture is not so much optically accurate as it is expressive. With the help of color combinations, an artistic image, expressiveness of the canvas is created. The picture is dominated by pure colors, the combinations of which create shades, volumes and contrasts that affect perception. The borders of color spots are distinguishable and expressive, since each stroke creates a color spot, distinguishable in contrast with neighboring strokes. Van Gogh focuses on smears-spots, crushing the volumes of the depicted. So he achieves greater expression of color and form and achieves dynamics in the picture.
Van Gogh creates certain colors and their shades by combining color spots-strokes that complement each other. The darkest parts of the canvas are not reduced to black, but only to a combination of dark shades of different colors, creating in perception a very dark shade close to black. The same happens with the brightest places - there is no pure white, but a combination of strokes of white with shades of other colors, in combination with which white ceases to be the most important in perception. Highlights and reflections are not pronounced brightly, as they are smoothed out by color compounds.
We can say that in the picture there are rhythmic repetitions of color combinations. The presence of such combinations both in the image of the valley and the settlement, and in the sky creates the integrity of the perception of the picture. Various combinations of shades of blue among themselves and with other colors throughout the canvas show that it is the main color that develops in the picture. An interesting contrasting combination of blue with shades of yellow. The texture of the surface is not smooth, but embossed due to the volume of strokes, in some places even with gaps on a blank canvas. The strokes are well distinguishable, significant for the expression of the picture, its dynamics. Strokes are long, sometimes larger or smaller. Applied in different ways, but rather thick paint.
Returning to binary oppositions, it must be said that the picture is characterized openness of form. Since the landscape is not fixated on itself, on the contrary, it is open, it can be expanded beyond the borders of the canvas, which is why the integrity of the picture is not violated. The picture is inherent atectonic beginning. Because all the elements of the picture strive for unity, they cannot be taken out of the context of the composition or canvas, they do not have their own integrity. All parts of the picture are subject to a single plan and mood and do not have autonomy. This is expressed technically in composition, in dynamics, in color patterns, in the technical solution of strokes. Picture presents incomplete (relative) clarity depicted. Since only parts of the depicted objects (houses of the tree settlement) are visible, many of them overlap each other (trees, field houses), scales are changed to achieve semantic accents (the stars and the moon are hypertrophied).
Iconographic and iconological analysis
Actually the plot of "Starry Night" or the type of landscape depicted is difficult to compare with the paintings of other artists, all the more to put in a number of similar works. Landscapes depicting night effects were not used by the Impressionists, since lighting effects at different times of daylight hours and work in the open air were just important for them. Post-Impressionists, if they turned to landscapes not from nature (like Gauguin, who often paints from memory), they still chose daylight hours and used new ways of depicting lighting effects and individual techniques. Therefore, the image of night landscapes can be called a feature of Van Gogh's work (“Night cafe terrace”, “Starry night”, “Starry night over the Rhone”, “Church in Auvers”, “Road with cypresses and stars”).
Characteristic in Van Gogh's night landscapes is the use of color contrasts to emphasize important elements of the picture. The most commonly used contrast shades of blue and yellow. Night landscapes were mostly painted by Van Gogh from memory. In this regard, they paid more attention not to the reproduction of the real lighting effects seen or of interest to the artist, but emphasized the expressiveness and unusualness of light and color effects. Therefore, the lighting and color effects are exaggerated, which gives them an additional semantic load in the paintings.
If we turn to the iconological method, then in the study of the "Starry Night" one can trace additional meanings in the number of stars on the canvas. Some researchers associate the eleven stars in Van Gogh's painting with the Old Testament story of Joseph and his eleven brothers. “Listen, I had a dream again,” he said. “In it were the sun and the moon, and eleven stars, and they all bowed down to me.” Genesis 37:9. Given Van Gogh's knowledge of religion, his study of the Bible and his attempts to become priests, the inclusion of this story as an additional meaning is justified. Although it is difficult to consider this reference to the Bible as determining the semantic content of the picture, because the stars make up only part of the canvas, and the depicted town, hills and trees are not connected with the biblical story.
biographical method
Considering the "Starry Night", it is difficult to do without a biographical method of research. Van Gogh wrote it in 1889, when he was in the Saint-Remy hospital. There, at the request of Theo van Gogh, Vincent was allowed to paint and draw in oils during periods of improvement in his condition. Periods of improvement were accompanied by a creative upsurge. Van Gogh devoted all the available time to work in the open air and wrote quite a lot.
It is noteworthy that "Starry Night" was written from memory, which is unusual for the process of Van Gogh's creativity. This circumstance can also emphasize the special expressiveness, dynamics and coloring of the picture. On the other hand, these features of the picture can also be explained by the mental state of the artist during his stay in the hospital. The circle of his communication and the possibilities of action were limited, and the attacks occurred with varying degrees of intensity. And only during periods of improvement did he have the opportunity to do what he loved. During that period, painting became a particularly important way of self-realization for Van Gogh. Therefore, the canvases become brighter, more expressive and dynamic. The artist puts a lot of emotion into them, as this is the only possible way to express it.
It is interesting that Van Gogh, who describes in detail his life, reflections and his work in letters to his brother, mentions the "Starry Night" only in passing. And although by that time Vincent had already departed from the church and church dogmas, he writes to his brother: “I still passionately need - I will allow myself this word - religion. Therefore, I went out of the house at night and began to draw stars.
Comparing "Starry Night" with earlier works, we can say that it is among the most expressive, emotional and exciting. Tracing the change in the manner of writing throughout his work, there is a noticeable increase in expressiveness, color load, and dynamics in Van Gogh's works. "Starry Night over the Rhone", written in 1888 - a year before the "Starry Night", is not yet filled with that culmination of emotions, expressiveness, color richness and technical solutions. You can also notice that the paintings following the "Starry Night" became more expressive, dynamic, emotionally heavy, more vivid in color. The most striking examples are "Church in Auvers", "Wheat field with ravens". This is how you can designate "Starry Night" as the last and most expressive, dynamic, emotional and colorful period of Van Gogh's work.
