Van oog night. "Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh: What does this painting tell me? The history of the painting “Starry Night”

Vincent Van Gogh is a rather mysterious person, his creative path went through alcohol addiction and a stay in a mental hospital.

History of creation

Painting " Starlight Night"was created by the author in 1889 in the hospital of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. This painting is recognized as a masterpiece. It is located in the Museum contemporary art in NYC. While in the clinic, the artist painted about 150 works. Van Gogh's brother Theo arranged for permission to paint in the hospital. To distract himself from the attacks that tormented the author, he could paint several paintings a day. this work created by Van Gogh from memory, not from life. This makes it stand out from other paintings.

Composition of the painting

In the painting “Starry Night,” the crescent moon and stars occupy a special place. They immediately attract the viewer's attention due to the special technique of execution. The light emanating from the moon and stars creates the appearance of a spiral, which only emphasizes the unsurpassed beauty of the celestial bodies in the picture. In his creation, the artist tries to combine unattainable greatness (stars, month) and earthly life (cypress tree, village). The cypress trees seem to want to touch the sky, to join the gentle dance of the luminaries. Thanks to the peculiarity of the strokes, it seems that the celestial bodies are moving in the sky.

WITH right side the artist depicted the village. Blue color the roofs reflect the moonlight even more. The picture is filled with mystery and splendor, even though it includes dark colors. But against the blue background, the yellow light of the stars and moon looks amazing.

Technique, execution, techniques

The technique of creating the night sky and conveying all the necessary shades was not yet mastered during this period. Vincent Van Gogh was practically a pioneer in this field of art. Dutch artist uses a combination of dark blue color, different shades yellow, while adding dark green, heavenly, brown shades. The color scheme is impressive in its uniqueness. 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 hospitalized with a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy. Before that, he led an immoral lifestyle, abused absinthe, and 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 to the mayor's office about him because of the constant noise. Thus, he ended up in the clinic.

Artists all over the world constantly copy Van Gogh's "Starry Night, Saint-Rémy". This is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world fine arts, and various reproductions of this canvas decorate the interiors of many houses. The circumstances of the creation of "Starry Night", where and how it was written, as well as previous unfulfilled dreams artist, make this work especially significant for Van Gogh’s work.

Vincent Van Gogh "Starry Night, Saint-Rémy". 1889

When Van Gogh was a little younger, he planned to become a pastor and missionary, he wanted to help poor people with the word of God. Religious education helped him in some way to create The Starry Night. In 1889, when the night sky with stars sparkling in the moonlight was painted, the artist wasin the French hospital of Saint-Rémy.

Count the stars - there are eleven of them.We can say that the creation of the painting was influenced by the ancient legend about Joseph from the Old Testament. “Behold, I saw another dream: behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars worship me,” we read in the Book of Genesis.

Van Gogh wrote: “I still have a passionate need for religion. That’s why I left the house at night and began to draw the night sky with stars.”
This famous picture The master demonstrates to the viewer the great power of the artist, as well as his individual and unique style of painting and his special vision of the entire world around him.The Starry Night canvas is the most outstanding work art of the mid-19th century.

There are many reasons why "Starry Night" attracts people so much, and it's not just the saturation of blue and yellow flowers. Many details in the picture and, first of all, the stars are deliberately enlarged. It's like an artist's vision come to life: he surrounds each of the stars with a ball, and we see their rotational movement.
Just as the stars bend on their way down to the hilly horizon, so Van Gogh will be inclined to leave the familiar world, crossing the threshold of the hospital. The windows of the buildings are reminiscent of the houses where he lived as a child, and the spire of the church depicted by Van Gogh in The Starry Night recalls the fact that he once wanted to devote his life to religious activities.

The main “pillars” of the composition are the seemingly huge cypress trees on the hill (foreground), the pulsating crescent moon and stars of a “shining”, bright yellow color. A city lying in a valley may even go unnoticed at first, because the main emphasis is on the greatness of the universe.

The crescent moon and the stars move in a single wave-like rhythm. The trees depicted in this picture significantly balance the overall composition.

The whirlwind in the sky reminds Milky Way, about galaxies, about cosmic harmony, expressed in the simultaneously ecstatic and blissfully calm movement of all bodies in dark blue space. In the picture there are eleven incredibly huge stars and a large but waning month, reminiscent of biblical story about Christ and the 12 apostles.

Geographers try in vain to determine what locality is depicted at the bottom of the canvas, and astronomers are trying to find the constellations in the picture. The image of the night sky was copied from my own consciousness. If usually the night sky is serene and cold and indifferent, then in Van Gogh it is swirling with whirlwinds, full of secret life.

Thus, the artist hints that the imagination is omnipotent to create more amazing nature than the one we see in the real world.

"Starlight Night"

When Night falls on the Earth like darkness -
Love lights up the stars in the sky...

Maybe someone doesn't notice them,
Oh, someone is watching them through a telescope -

There he searches for life, studies science...
And someone just looks - and Dreams!

Sometimes a dream can be fabulous,
But still, he continues to believe...

His star is alive, it shines,
All his questions are answered...

There, among thousands of stars, there is Vincent's Star!
It never fades away!

It burns throughout the entire Universe -
She lights up the planets!

So that in the midst of the dark Night it suddenly becomes brighter -
So that the light of the Star shines like the Sun in the Soul of people!

Vincent's sister

Distant, cold and beautiful stars have always attracted man. They showed the way in the ocean or desert, foreshadowed the fate of individuals and entire states, and helped to comprehend the laws of the universe. And the night luminaries have long inspired poets, writers and artists. And Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night” is one of the most controversial, mysterious and fascinating works that glorify their magnificence. How this painting was created, what events in the life of the painter influenced its painting and how the work is being reinterpreted in modern art - you can learn about all this from our article.

Original painting Starry Night. Vincent van Gogh 1889

Artist's story

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the south of Holland in the family of a Protestant pastor. Relatives described the boy as a capricious, boring child with strange manners. However, outside the house he more often behaved thoughtfully and seriously, but in games he showed good nature, courtesy and compassion.

In 1864, Vincent was sent to boarding school, where he studied languages ​​and drawing. However, already in 1868 he left his studies, returning to parents' house. Since 1869, the young man worked as a dealer in a large trade and art company owned by his uncle. There, the future painter began to take a serious interest in art, often visiting the Louvre, the Luxembourg Museum, exhibitions and galleries. But due to disappointment in love, he lost the desire to work, instead deciding to become a priest, like his father. So, in 1878 van Gogh studied educational activities in a mining village in southern Belgium, mentoring parishioners and teaching children.

However, the only one real passion Vincent always remained painting. He argued that creativity is The best way for relax human suffering, which even religion cannot surpass. But such a choice was not easy for the artist - he was removed from his post as a preacher, he fell into depression and even spent some time in a psychiatric hospital. Besides, the master suffered from obscurity and material deprivation - there were almost no people willing to buy Van Gogh’s painting.

However, it was this period that would later be called the heyday of Vincent van Gogh’s work. He worked hard in less than a year, he created more than 150 canvases, about 120 drawings and watercolors, and many sketches. But even among this rich heritage, the work “Starry Night” stands out for its originality and expressiveness.

Features of van Gogh's painting "Starry Night" - what was the master's plan?

She is first mentioned in correspondence between Vincent and his brother. The artist says that the desire to depict stars shining in the sky is dictated by a lack of faith. Subsequently, he also said that the night luminaries always helped him dream.

Van Gogh had a similar idea a long time ago. Thus, the canvas he painted in Arles (a small town in the south-east of France) has a similar plot - “Starry Night over the Rhone”, but the painter himself spoke disapprovingly of it. He claimed that he was unable to convey the fabulousness, unreality and phantasmagoric nature of the world.

The painting “Starry Night” became a kind of psychological therapy for van Gogh, which helped to overcome depression, disappointment and melancholy. Hence the emotionality of the work, its bright colors, and the use of impressionistic techniques.

But does the canvas have real prototype? It is known that the master painted it while in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. However, art historians admit that the arrangement of houses and trees does not correspond to the real architecture of the village. The constellations shown are just as mysterious. And in the panorama that opens before the viewer one can see the typical features of both northern and southern French regions.

Therefore, it is worth recognizing that Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” is a very symbolic work. It cannot be interpreted literally - you can only reverently admire the picture, trying to comprehend its hidden meanings.

Reproductions of Vincent van Gogh in the interior

Symbols and interpretations - what is encrypted in the image « Starlight Night » ?

First of all, critics are trying to understand what the number of night luminaries means. They are identified both with the Star of Bethlehem, which marked the birth of the Messiah, and with chapter 37 from the Book of Genesis, which talks about Joseph’s dreams: “I also saw a dream: behold, the Sun and the Moon and eleven stars worship me.”

Both the stars and the crescent are surrounded by the brightest shining halos. This cosmic light illuminates the restless night sky, in which amazing spirals rotate. They claim that they contain the Fibonacci sequence - a special harmonious combination of numbers, found both in human creations, and in living nature. For example, the location of scales on fir cone and sunflower seeds obeys precisely this pattern. It can also be seen in the work of van Gogh.

The silhouettes of cypress trees, reminiscent of a candle flame, perfectly balance the bottomless sky and the peacefully sleeping earth. They act as intermediaries between the unstoppable movement of mysterious cosmic luminaries creating new worlds, and a simple, ordinary provincial town.

Perhaps it was precisely thanks to this ambiguity that the work of the great painter became famous throughout the world. Historians and critics are discussing it, and art historians are examining the canvas, stored at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

And now you have the opportunity to buy a painting “Starry Night” made of amber! When creating this unique panel, the master reproduced all the features and nuances of the original, from composition to color. Golden, wax, sand, terracotta, saffron - carefully selected shades of semi-precious chips allow you to convey the energy, dynamics and tension emanating from the painting. And the volume that the work acquired thanks to the inlay from solid precious stones

, makes it even more attractive and fascinating. And our online store can offer you other works by the great artist. Any reproduction of Van Gogh from amber is different highest quality

, impeccable adherence to the original, colorfulness and originality. Therefore, they will certainly delight true connoisseurs and art connoisseurs.

“I still have a passionate need,” I will allow myself this word, “of religion. That’s why I left the house at night and began to draw stars,” Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo. It's worth going to New York just to meet her, " Starry night

"Van Gogh.

Here I would like to give the text of my work on the analysis of this picture. Initially, I wanted to rework the text so that it would be more consistent with the article for the blog, but due to glitches in Word and lack of time, I will post it in its original form, which was difficult to restore after a program failure. 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 path of life and quite late development Van Gogh as an artist, he was distinguished by perseverance and hard work, which helped achieve great success

mastery of drawing and painting techniques. Over the ten years of his life devoted to art, Van Gogh went from an experienced viewer (he began his career as an art seller, 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 artist’s life. modern culture. Although Van Gogh left a large epistolary legacy (extensive correspondence with his brother Theo Van Gogh), accounts of his life were compiled long after his death and often contained fictitious stories and distorted views of the artist. In this regard, the image of Van Gogh emerged as a crazy artist who, in a fit, cut off his ear, and later completely shot himself. This image attracts the viewer with the mystery of the work of a crazy artist, balancing on the brink of genius and madness and mystery. But if you 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 has become accessible to a wide circle only after his death. At first his work was attributed to different directions, but they were later 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 smear, using different equipment strokes in one work, a certain coloring, expression, compositional features, means of expression. Exactly this characteristic manner We will analyze Van Gogh using the example of the painting “Starry Night” in this work.

Formal-stylistic analysis

"Starry Night" is one of the most famous works Van Gogh. The painting was painted in June 1889 in Saint-Rémy and has been kept in the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1941. The painting is painted in oil on canvas, dimensions – 73x92 cm, format – horizontally elongated rectangle, this easel painting. Due to the nature 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, depicted large on the right, and the moving night sky. Trees rise in the foreground on the right, and a town or village is depicted below on the left, hidden in the trees. The background is dark hills on the horizon, gradually becoming higher from left to right. The painting, based on the plot described, undoubtedly belongs to the landscape genre. We can say that the artist brings to the fore the expressiveness and some conventionality of what is depicted, since expressive distortion (color, brush stroke technique, etc.) plays the main role in the work.

The composition of the picture is generally balanced - on the right with dark trees below, and on the left with 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, since it occupies most of the canvas, that is, the upper part prevails over the lower. At the same time, the composition also has a spiral structure that gives the initial impetus to the movement, expressed in a spiraling flow in the sky in the center of the composition. This spiral sets in motion some of the trees, the stars, the rest of the sky, the moon, and even the lower part of the composition - the village, the trees, the hills. Thus, the composition transforms from the static nature usual for the landscape genre into a dynamic, fantastic plot that captivates the viewer. Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish the background and clear planning in the work. The traditional background, the background, ceases to be a background, since it is included in the overall dynamics of the picture, and the foreground, if you take the trees and the village, is included in the spiral movement and ceases to stand out. The layout 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 the 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 painting - the color scheme, bright accents, palette, brush stroke technique.

A deep space is created in the painting. This is achieved due to the color scheme, composition and movement of strokes, and the difference in the size of strokes. Including due to the difference in the size of the image - big trees, a small village and trees near it, smaller hills on the horizon, a large moon and stars. The color scheme 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, shaded by a light strip 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 bottom plan - the town, trees and hills, a distinction is made with separate dark contour lines. It can be said that the artist deliberately connects certain linear aspects to emphasize the difference between the upper and lower planes of the painting. Therefore, the top plan, the most important compositionally, in meaning and in terms of color and technical solutions, is the most expressive and picturesque. This part of the painting is literally sculpted with color and brushstrokes; there are no 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 directions 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 with individual contour strokes or created through 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 sources of light in the picture are the stars and the moon. This can be seen in the brightness of the settlement and trees in the valley and the darker part of the valley on the left, in the dark trees in the foreground and the darkening hills on the horizon, especially those located on the right under the moon.

The silhouettes depicted are closely related to each other. They are inexpressive due to the fact that they are painted with large strokes; for the same reason, the silhouettes are not valuable in themselves. They cannot be perceived 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 generality of what is depicted on the canvas. There is no detail due to the scale of what is depicted (far away, therefore small towns, trees, hills) and the technical solution of the painting - drawing with large strokes, dividing what is depicted into separate colors with such strokes. Therefore, it cannot be said that the picture conveys the variety of textures of what is depicted. But a generalized, rough and exaggerated hint of the difference in shapes, textures, and volumes due to the technical solution of the painting is given by the direction of the strokes, their size and the actual color.

Color in "Starry Night" plays main role. Composition, dynamics, volumes, silhouettes, depth, light are subject to color. Color in a painting is not an expression of volume, but a meaning-forming 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 painting is not so much optically accurate as it is expressive. Using color combinations creates artistic image, expressiveness of the canvas. The painting is dominated by pure colors, combinations of which create shades, volumes and contrasts that influence perception. The boundaries of color spots are distinguishable and expressive, since each stroke creates a color spot that is distinguishable in contrast with neighboring strokes. Van Gogh focuses on spot-strokes that fragment the volumes of what is depicted. This way he achieves greater expression of color and shape and achieves dynamics in the painting.

Van Gogh creates certain colors and their shades using a combination of color spots and 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 thing happens with the lightest places - there is no pure white, but there is 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 clearly expressed, as they are smoothed out by color combinations.

We can say that the painting contains 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. Different combinations of shades of blue with each other and with other colors throughout the canvas show that it is the main color developing in the picture. The contrasting combination of blue with shades of yellow is interesting. The surface texture is not smooth, but embossed due to the volume of strokes, in some places even with gaps in the blank canvas. The strokes are clearly distinguishable and significant for the expression of the picture and its dynamics. The strokes are long, sometimes larger or smaller. They are applied in different ways, but with quite thick paint.

Returning to binary oppositions, it must be said that the picture is characterized by openness of form. Since the landscape is not fixated on itself, on the contrary, it is open, it can be expanded beyond the boundaries of the canvas, which is why the integrity of the picture will not be 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 subordinated to a single concept and mood and do not have autonomy. This is expressed technically in composition, in dynamics, in color patterns, and in the technical solution of strokes. The picture represents incomplete (relative) clarity depicted. Since only parts of the depicted objects (tree settlement houses) are visible, many overlap each other (trees, field houses), the scales have been changed to achieve semantic accents (the stars and the moon are exaggerated).

Iconographic and iconological analysis

The actual plot of “Starry Night” or the type of landscape depicted is difficult to compare with paintings by other artists, much less to place in a series of similar works. Landscapes depicting night effects were not used by the Impressionists, since for them it was precisely lighting effects V different time daylight hours and work in the open air. Post-Impressionists, even if they did not paint landscapes from life (like Gauguin, who often painted from memory), still chose daylight hours and used new ways of depicting light effects and individual techniques. Therefore, the depiction of night landscapes can be called a feature of Van Gogh’s work (“ Night terrace cafe", "Starry Night", "Starry Night over the Rhone", "Church in Auvers", "Road with Cypresses and Stars").

Characteristic of Van Gogh's night landscapes is the use of color contrasts to emphasize important elements of the picture. The contrast of shades of blue and yellow was most often used. Night landscapes were mostly painted by Van Gogh from memory. In this regard, they paid more attention not to reproducing real lighting effects seen or of interest to the artist, but emphasized the expressiveness and unusualness of light and color effects. Therefore, light and color effects are exaggerated, which gives them additional meaning in the paintings.

If we turn to the iconological method, then in the study of “Starry Night” we can trace additional meanings in the number of stars on the canvas. Some researchers connect 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. “There was in it 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 a priest, the inclusion of this story as additional meaning 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 related to the biblical plot.

Biographical method

When considering The Starry Night, it is difficult to do without the biographical method of research. Van Gogh painted it in 1889 while he was in the Saint-Rémy hospital. There, at the request of Theo Van Gogh, Vincent was allowed to paint in oils and make drawings during periods of improvement in his condition. Periods of improvement were accompanied by creative upsurge. Van Gogh devoted all his available time to working in the open air and wrote quite a lot.

It is noteworthy that “Starry Night” was written from memory, which is unusual for Van Gogh’s creative process. This circumstance can emphasize the special expressiveness, dynamics and color of the picture. On the other hand, these features of the picture can be explained by mental state the artist while he was in the hospital. His circle of contacts and opportunities for 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 more vibrant, expressive and dynamic. The artist puts great emotionality into them, since this is the only possible way express it.

It is interesting that Van Gogh, who describes his life, thoughts and works in detail in letters to his brother, mentions The Starry Night only in passing. And although by that time Vincent had already moved away from the church and church dogmas, he writes to his brother: “I still passionately need,” I will allow myself this word, “in religion. That's why I left the house at night and started drawing stars."

Comparing "Starry Night" with more early works, we can say that it is among the most expressive, emotional and exciting. Tracing the change in his writing style throughout his creative work, there is a noticeable increase in expressiveness, color intensity, and dynamics in Van Gogh’s works. "Starry Night over the Rhone", written in 1888 - a year before "Starry Night", is not yet filled with that culmination of emotions, expressiveness, color richness and technical solutions. You can also notice that the paintings that followed “Starry Night” became more expressive, dynamic, emotionally heavy, and brighter in color. Most vivid examples- “Church in Auvers”, “Wheat field with crows”. This is how “Starry Night” can be described as the last and most expressive, dynamic, emotional and brightly colored period of Van Gogh’s work.

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. The blue color in Christianity 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 choppy 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 I was greeted by the sun, the moon, 11 stars, 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.