The art piece I encountered that stood out to me the most was Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. Van Gogh was an artist whose stylistic choices in the piece contrasted from those seen prior to modernism. Although his work became most famous after his death, this piece was a raw display of his emotional and mental state. Van Gogh painted “Starry Night” during a time when he was admitted in a psychiatric asylum between 1889 and 1890. After being seen as crazy by members of the church because he gave up all his material goods in the name of Christianity, Van Gogh experienced what may be described as a mental crisis. Though his mental state was affected by this rejection, he focused his works on providing consolation for others who have been misunderstood and outcasted. During his time in the asylum, he seemed to have been improving. However, he relapsed and fell even deeper into his spiral of depression and hallucinations. I believe that Starry Night may be interpreted as a display of his mental state during this time. The dark and gloomy shades of blue, black, and gray appear to dominate the painting in particular. What’s interesting is the way nature appears to blend in with civilization, as well as the earth and sky almost colliding. Although unusual for Van Gogh given his previous works, he actually did not paint this based on what he could visually perceive, as this was not the view from his cell during the time. Rather, many of the artistic choices he made were based on imagination rather than reality. This work reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism in the sense that it is raw in emotion. Modernism entails that not everything is perfect and orderly, as many may present life to be. The truth of human weakness, sadness,and loneliness is displayed through Van Gogh’s work.
What drew me to this work in particular was that the image looked very familiar to me, particularly the large tree on the left side and the bright stars. I realized that it is the same image I have printed on a magnet attached to my fridge. When I saw who the artist was, I was shocked that I never knew who had drawn the piece beforehand. Ever since I was a little girl, I had been seeing the image every time I wanted something to eat, yet it never occurred to me to find out who painted the image. Learning the backstory of this artwork opened my eyes to details about the painting that I had missed, despite looking at it every day for years. The tiny trees that tightly surround civilization is something that I overlooked. Here may suggest a sort of convergence between nature and civilization. The way the church extended above all the other structures to touch the sky also seems to have been intentional in suggesting a connection between this world and heaven. Additionally, the brightness of the stars and moon emit a sentiment of hope. I believe that many of the aspects Van Gogh chose to incorporate in this work point toward a theme of hope; that in the midst of the turmoil, we are each relatively so small on this earth and that there is a higher power that remains.
Thanks for this post. I remember how excited I was the first time I saw this painting in person. It makes me feel lucky to live in NYC to have access to these amazing, famous images. I had never thought of this as a particularly hopeful painting, so thanks for giving me a new way to think about it.