Tuesday, October 2, 2007

DAIO


This is a famous painting by Vincent Van Gogh, called Starry Night. In June of 1889, Van Gogh painted Starry Night with oils on canvas. In the foreground is a large fire that set closer to the viewer to show emphasis. The middle ground includes a small town in the country. Lastly the background includes a beautiful night sky, with glowing stars, which is the main focus.

Van Gogh uses a lot of elements in this painting. The element of line is apparent when you look at the sky around the stars and the moon. Another element of art that Van Gogh used in this painting would be space. Even though his main focus is the night sky, he still makes the town and the fire noticeable. The last element that is apparent in Starry Night is the element of texture. Van Gogh used different brush strokes to create the texture of the sky, fire, and the city.

Not only did Van Gogh use different elements of art he also used principles of design in this painting. One main principle would be the principle of movement. The movement with the stars shows the beauty of the night. His painting is also very balanced, the fire and the moon are placed well so that your eyes wander throughout the whole picture. Lastly he uses harmony and unity through the colors and the textures.

Van Gogh painted Starry Night when he was in an asylum, where he produced over a hundred other paintings. Van Gogh loved the night time because it was so promising and colorful. He wanted people to stop in there busy day and glance up at the stars and moon at night and see their beauty.

I love this painting, his use of color and texture go great together. This is a very successful piece of art because it does make you appreciate what God has given us even in the night time. This is one of Van Gogh’s most famous painting and is on display in the MoMA.


Works Cited


Van Gogh, Vincent. “Starry Night.” MoMa.org. The Museum of Modern Art. 1889. 18 December 2006. 2006.

2 comments:

Ashley said...

I love this painting, its one of my favorites!!! I never really thought of the biq black blob in the center of the painting as a fire, I like your interpretation of it.

Jesse Nicole said...

Thanks its my favorite too! Well Mrs. W told me that its a tree but i always thought that it was fire!