Maria Revyakina, art critic:
The picture is divided into two horizontal planes: the sky (upper part) and the earth (city landscape below), which are penetrated by the vertical cypress trees. Soaring into the sky like tongues of flame, the cypress trees with their outlines resemble a cathedral made in the “flaming Gothic” style.
In many countries, cypress trees are considered cult trees, symbolizing the life of the soul after death, eternity, the frailty of existence and helping the deceased to find shortest way On sky. Here these trees come to the fore; they are the main characters of the picture. This construction reflects the main meaning of the work: suffering human soul(perhaps the soul of the artist himself) belongs to both heaven and earth.
Interestingly, life in heaven looks more attractive than life on earth. This feeling is created thanks to the bright colors and writing technique unique to Van Gogh: through long, thick strokes and rhythmic alternation of color spots, he creates a feeling of dynamics, rotation, spontaneity, which emphasizes the incomprehensibility and all-encompassing power of the Cosmos.
The sky is given most of the canvas to show its superiority and power over the world of people
The celestial bodies are depicted greatly enlarged, and the spiral-shaped vortices in the sky are stylized as images of the galaxy and the Milky Way.
The effect of the twinkling of heavenly bodies is created by a combination of cold white And various shades yellow. Yellow in the Christian tradition it was associated with divine light, with enlightenment, while white was a symbol of transition to another world.
The painting also abounds in celestial hues, from pale blue to deep blue. Blue color in Christianity it is associated with God, symbolizing eternity, meekness and humility before His will. Most of the canvas is given to the sky to show its superiority and power over the human world. All this contrasts with the muted tones of the cityscape, which looks dull in its peace and serenity.
“DON’T LET MADNESS CONSUMBLE YOURSELF”
Andrey Rossokhin, psychoanalyst:
When I first look at the picture, I notice cosmic harmony, a majestic parade of stars. But the more I peer into this abyss, the more clearly I experience a state of horror and anxiety. The vortex in the center of the picture, like a funnel, drags me away, drawing me deep into space.
Van Gogh wrote “Starry Night” in a mental hospital, during moments of clarity of consciousness. Creativity helped him come to his senses and was his salvation. I see this fascination with madness and the fear of it in the picture: at any moment it can engulf the artist, drawing him into himself like a funnel. Or is it a whirlpool? If you look only at the upper part of the picture, it is difficult to understand whether we are looking at the sky or at the rough sea in which this sky with stars is reflected.
The association with a whirlpool is not accidental: it is both the depths of space and the depths of the sea, in which the artist drowns and loses his identity. Which is essentially what insanity means. The sky and water turn into one. The horizon line disappears, internal and external merge. And this moment of waiting for the loss of oneself is very strongly conveyed by Van Gogh.
The center of the picture is occupied not even by one vortex, but by two: one larger, the other smaller. A head-on collision between unequal rivals, senior and junior. Or maybe brothers? Behind this fight one can see a friendly but competitive relationship with Paul Gauguin, which ended in a deadly clash (Van Gogh at one point rushed at him with a razor, but did not kill him as a result, and later injured himself by cutting off his earlobe).
And indirectly - Vincent’s relationship with his brother Theo, too close on paper (they carried out intensive correspondence), in which, obviously, there was something forbidden. The key to this relationship may be the 11 stars depicted in the painting. They refer to a story from the Old Testament in which Joseph tells his brother: “I had a dream in which the sun, the moon, 11 stars greeted me, and everyone worshiped me.”
There is everything in the picture except the sun. Who was Van Gogh's sun? Brother, father? We don’t know, but perhaps Van Gogh, who was highly dependent on his younger brother, wanted the opposite from him - submission and worship.
In fact, we see Van Gogh’s three “I”s in the painting. The first is the omnipotent “I”, which wants to dissolve in the Universe, to be, like Joseph, an object of universal worship. Second “I” – small ordinary person, freed from passions and madness. He does not see the riot that is happening in the sky, but sleeps peacefully in a small village, under the protection of the church.
The cypress is perhaps an unconscious symbol of what Van Gogh would have wanted to achieve
But, alas, the world of mere mortals is inaccessible to him. When Van Gogh cut off his earlobe, the townspeople wrote a statement to the mayor of Arles asking him to isolate the artist from other residents. And Van Gogh was sent to a mental hospital. Probably, the artist perceived this exile as punishment for the guilt he felt - for madness, for his destructive intentions, forbidden feelings for his brother and for Gauguin.
And therefore his third, main “I” is an outcast cypress tree, which is distant from the village, taken outside human world. The branches of the cypress, like tongues of flame, are directed upward. He is the only witness to the spectacle that unfolds in the sky.
This is the image of an artist who does not sleep, who is open to the abyss of passions and creative imagination. He is not protected from them by church and home. But it is rooted in reality, in the earth, thanks to powerful roots.
This cypress tree is perhaps an unconscious symbol of what Van Gogh would like to strive for. To feel a connection with the cosmos, with the abyss that feeds his creativity, but at the same time not lose connection with the earth, with his identity.
In reality, Van Gogh did not have such roots. Enchanted by his madness, he loses his footing and finds himself swallowed up in this whirlpool.
Starlight Night- Vincent Van Gogh. 1889. Oil on canvas. 73.7x92.1
There is no artist in the world who is not attracted by the starry sky. The author has repeatedly turned to this romantic and mysterious object.
The master was cramped within real world. He considered that it was his imagination, the play of his imagination, that was necessary for a more complete image. It is known that by the time the painting was created, the author was undergoing another course of treatment; he was allowed to work only if his condition improved. The artist was deprived of the opportunity to create on location. He created many works during this period (including Starry Night) from memory.
Powerful, expressive strokes, thick colors, complex composition - everything in this picture is designed to be perceived from a great distance.
In an amazing way, the author managed to separate the sky from the Earth. One gets the impression that active movement in the sky does not in any way affect what is happening on the ground. Below is a sleepy town, ready to fall into a peaceful sleep. Above are powerful streams, huge stars and incessant movement.
The light in the work comes precisely from the stars and the moon, but its direction is indirect. The glare illuminating the night city looks random, broken off from the general powerful vortex reigning over the world.
Between heaven and earth, connecting them, the cypress grows, eternal, undying. The tree is important for the author; it is the only one capable of transmitting all the heavenly energy to those living on earth. The cypress trees strive for the sky, their aspiration is so strong that it seems that in another second the trees will part with the earth for the sake of the sky. The centuries-old branches directed upward look like tongues of green flame.
A combination of rich blue and yellow flowers, a well-known heraldic combination, creates a special atmosphere, fascinates and attracts attention to the work.
The artist repeatedly turned to the night sky. IN famous work“Sky over the Rhone” the master does not yet take such a radical and expressive approach to depicting the sky.
The symbolic meaning of the painting is interpreted differently by many. Some are inclined to see in the picture a direct quote from the Old Testament or Revelation. Some consider the painting’s excessive expressiveness to be the result of the master’s illness. Everyone agrees on one thing - towards the end of his life, the master only increases the internal tension of his works. The world is distorted in the artist’s perception, it ceases to be the same, new forms, lines and new emotions, stronger and more accurate, are discovered in it. The master draws the viewer's attention to those fantasies that make the world more bright and non-standard.
Today this particular work has become one of Van Gogh's most recognizable works. The painting is in an American museum, but the painting comes to Europe regularly and is exhibited in largest museums Old World.
One of the most famous paintings- “Starry Night” by Van Gogh - currently located in one of the Museum’s halls contemporary art in NYC. It was created in 1889 and represents one of the most famous works great artist.
The history of the painting
"Starry Night" is one of the most famous and popular works fine art art of the 19th century century. The painting was painted in 1889 and it perfectly conveys the unique and inimitable style of the greatest
In 1888, after Paul was attacked and his earlobe was cut off, Vincent Van Gogh was sadly diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. This year great artist lived in France, in the town of Arles. After the residents of this city turned to the mayor’s office with a collective complaint against the “violent” painter, Vincent Van Gogh ended up in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, a village for famous masterpiece visual arts.
"Starry Night", Van Gogh. Description of the picture
A distinctive feature of the painting is its incredible dynamism, which eloquently conveys the emotional experiences of the great artist. Images in moonlight at that time had their own ancient traditions, and yet not a single artist could convey such strength and power natural phenomenon like Vincent Van Gogh. “Starry Night” was not written spontaneously, like many of the master’s works, it was carefully thought out and composed.
The incredible energy of the whole picture is concentrated mainly in the symmetrical, unified and continuous movement of the crescent moon, stars and the sky itself. The overwhelming inner feelings are surprisingly balanced by the trees depicted in the foreground, which, in turn, balance the entire panorama.
Stylistics of the painting
It is worth paying utmost attention to the amazingly synchronized movement of the celestial bodies in the night sky. Vincent Van Gogh specifically depicted the stars significantly enlarged to convey the flickering light of the entire halo. The light from the moon also appears pulsating, and the spiral curls very harmoniously convey the stylized image of the galaxy.
All the riot of the night sky is balanced, thanks to the image depicted in dark color the city landscape and the cypress trees that frame the picture from below. 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. It appears serenely calm in relation to the dynamic sky.
The color scheme of the painting “Starry Night” by Van Gogh is also important. 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 previous works this artist.
Discussions about 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 counting the stars depicted in the painting, trying to determine which constellation they belonged to. Geographers have tried to no avail to find out what kind of city is depicted at the bottom of the work. However, the fruits of the research of neither one nor the other were successful.
What is known for certain is that, while painting “The Starry Night,” Vincent deviated from his usual manner of painting from life.
Another interesting fact is that the creation of this picture, according to scientists and researchers, was influenced by the ancient legend about Joseph from the Old Testament. Although the artist was not considered a fan of theological teachings, the theme of eleven stars eloquently appears in the painting “Starry Night” by Van Gogh.
Many years have passed since the great artist created this painting, and a programmer from Greece has created an interactive version of this painting masterpiece. Thanks to special technology, you can control the flow of paint by touching your fingers. The spectacle is amazing!
Vincent Van Gogh. Painting "Starry Night". Does it have a hidden meaning?
Books and songs are written about this picture, and 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.
There is still no consensus on this picture. Did the illness affect her writing, is there any hidden meaning in this work, the current generation can only guess about it. It is possible that this is just a picture that the artist’s fevered mind saw. However, this is a completely different world, accessible only to the eyes of Vincent van Gogh.
From the paintings of Vincent van Gogh, it is quite easy to trace the artist’s medical history: from gray subjects tending towards realism to bright, floating motifs, where both hallucination and oriental images that were fashionable at that time were mixed.
"Starry Night" is one of Van Gogh's most recognizable paintings. Night is the time of the artist. When he got drunk, he became rowdy and lost himself in revelry. But he could also go melancholy to the open air. “I still need religion. That’s why I left the house at night and started drawing 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 cypress trees. These trees, with their gloomy dark green foliage, symbolized sadness and death in the ancient tradition. (It is no coincidence that cypress trees are often planted in cemeteries.) In the Christian tradition, cypress is a symbol 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: the sadness of the artist, who will soon commit suicide, and the eternity of the universe running.
Self-portrait. Saint-Rémy, September 1889
To show movement, to add dynamics to the frozen night, Van Gogh came up with a special technique - when painting the moon, stars, sky, he laid strokes in a circle. This, combined with color transitions, creates the impression that the light is spilling.
Context
Vincent painted the painting in 1889 at the Saint-Paul Mental Hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. It was a period of remission, so Van Gogh asked to go to his workshop in Arles. But city residents 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 molests 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 described objects using different colors. Less than a year before Starry Night, he wrote Starry Night over the Rhone, in which he experimented with the rendering of the colors of the night sky and artificial lighting, which was a novelty at that time.
"Starry Night over the Rhone", 1888
The fate of the artist
Van Gogh lived 37 turbulent and tragic years. Growing up as a disliked child, who was perceived as a son who was born instead of his older brother, who died a year before the boy was born, 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 kicked out for his violent antics and sloppy appearance. Painting was an escape from the depression Van Gogh faced after his failures with women and his failed careers as a dealer and missionary.
Van Gogh also refused to study to become 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. Disappointed and saddened, Vincent left for Arles with the intention of creating the “Workshop of the South” - a kind of brotherhood of like-minded artists working for future generations. It was then that Van Gogh's style took shape, which is known today and was described by the artist himself as follows: “Instead of trying to accurately depict what is in front of my eyes, I use color more arbitrarily, so as to express myself more fully.”
Prisoners Walk , 1890
In Arles, the artist lived a voracious life in every sense. He wrote a lot and drank a lot. Drunk brawls were scary local residents, who eventually even asked to expel the artist from the city. The famous incident with Gauguin also took place in Arles, when after another quarrel Van Gogh attacked his friend with a razor in his hands, and then, either as a sign of repentance or another attack, cut off his earlobe. All the circumstances are still unknown. However, the day after this incident, Vincent was taken to a hospital, and Gauguin left. They never met again.
During the last 2.5 months of his torn life, Van Gogh painted 80 paintings. And the doctor completely believed that everything was fine with Vincent. But one evening he locked himself in his room and did not come out for a long time. Neighbors, who suspected something was wrong, opened the door and found Van Gogh with a bullet through his chest. They failed to help him - the 37-year-old artist died.
The painting “The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh is considered by many to be the pinnacle of expressionism. It is curious that the artist himself considered it an extremely unsuccessful work, and it was written at the moment of the master’s mental discord. What is so unusual about this painting? Let’s try to figure it out later in the review.
1. Van Gogh wrote “Starry Night” in a mental hospital
The moment of creating the painting was preceded by a difficult emotional period in the artist’s life. A few months earlier, his friend Paul Gauguin came to Van Gogh in Arles to exchange paintings and experiences. But a fruitful creative tandem did not work out, and after a couple of months the artists finally fell out. In the heat of emotional distress, Van Gogh cut off his earlobe and took it to a brothel to the prostitute Rachel, who favored Gauguin. This was done with a bull defeated in a bullfight. The matador received the cut off ear of the animal.
Gauguin left soon after, and Van Gogh's brother Theo, seeing his condition, sent the unfortunate man to a hospital for the mentally ill in Saint-Rémy. It was there that the expressionist created his famous painting.
2. “Starry Night” is not a real landscape
Researchers are trying in vain to figure out which constellation is depicted in Van Gogh’s painting. The artist took the plot from his imagination. Theo agreed at the clinic that a separate room would be allocated for his brother, where he could create, but the mentally ill would not be allowed outside.
3. Turbulence in the sky
Either a heightened perception of the world, or the discovery of a sixth sense, forced the artist to depict turbulence. At that time, eddy currents could not be seen with the naked eye.
Although 4 centuries before Van Gogh, another brilliant artist Leonardo da Vinci depicted a similar phenomenon.
4. The artist considered his painting extremely unsuccessful
Vincent Van Gogh believed that his “Starry Night” was not the best painting, because it was not painted from life, which was very important to him. When the painting came to the exhibition, the artist said about it rather dismissively: “Maybe she will show others how to do night effects better than I did.”. However, for the expressionists, who believed that the most important thing was the manifestation of feelings, “Starry Night” became almost an icon.
5. Van Gogh created another “Starry Night”
There was another “Starry Night” in Van Gogh’s collection. The stunning landscape cannot leave anyone indifferent. The artist himself wrote to his brother Theo after creating this painting: "Why bright stars in the sky cannot be more important than the black dots on the map of France? Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, so we die to reach the stars.".
Today the works of this artist cost fabulous money, but
