The Starry Night By Vincent Van Gogh

The Starry Night
By Vincent Van Gogh
Art Movement: Post-Impressionism


Van Gogh created this painting in 1889 while he was in a mental asylum in Saint Remy recovering.  The cool colors in this painting create a feeling of nostalgia especially when combined with the warmth of the stars and the moon.  The dark tree contrasts with the brightness of the moon, which creates a balance of moods.  The use of “the rule of thirds” is fascinating in this painting because he is able to balance negative space with the tree by the use of the yellow colored moon.  The emphasis of the moon in the upper right corner balances the tree in the left third of the painting.  This is significant because the bright moon outweighs the darkness on the left, which could reflect the sadness that Van Gogh might of felt and the hope he had to get better.  This painting contains various curves, which gives the painting a sense of calm, serene, mystic feeling.  Curvy lines portray movement, and in this painting the “S” shaped clouds call movement to the sky.  The painting has a rough texture, which gives it an impressionistic look, and the idea of an impressionistic painting is capturing a moment in a short amount of time. It is currently located in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.