Hanna: When I first noticed Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh the first thing I noticed was the many waves and the texture the art presented. I also noticed how Van Gogh used beautiful brush strokes to give the art more motion. I love how he can turn a normal image of a starry night into a different image that most people do not see. I love how this image brings you closer to Vincent Van Gogh, because through this painting you can see how he imagines the world. He does not see the world linear like many people in today’s world. This painting is relevant to my life and the world because it can teach you to not look at the world so linear and how that everything you see people may not see in the same way. I associate this artwork with other painting Vincent Van Gogh painted like Cafe Terrace at Night, Van Gogh self-portrait.
Emme: What struck me the most about this painting was how the lines in the sky seemed to move, with motion created by Van Gogh’s unique brushstrokes. I think it gives the viewer lots of insight on what was going on in Vincent Van Gogh’s mind as he looked out over the fields and town. I think it’s interesting how Van Gogh painted the light from the stars and the moon and how he had the light taking up so much of the darkness. I also think the idea of the sleeping village under the beautiful moon and stars is very peaceful. To me, this incredible painting emphasizes the wonders of the sky and is a very good example of Vincent Van Gogh’s unique style of painting.
We initially wrote our own personal experience with the painting Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh, which is demonstrated above. And then we interviewed Sierra Roberts, a student at the University of New England. One of the most interesting things she stated when we interviewed her for our project was “Every artist is unique, but especially Vincent Van Gogh”. To get more insight and knowledge about Starry Night, we researched the author, Vincent Van Gogh’s painting and his life. Van Gogh is one of the most famous painters all around the world, but during his lifetime his paintings were dismissed as great pieces of art, and many people looked down on him and his paintings. He created around 900 paintings during his short lifetime. Starry Night is one of his most famous paintings, and it is being held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 and took his own life on July 29, 1890. His 900 paintings were of mainly landscapes, portraits, and still life paintings, but he put his own views into the paintings which led to the interesting, dramatic, and expressive brush strokes associated with his work. By researching Van Gogh, we gained insight on how he saw everyday life where most people would just ignore. We believe that his painting demonstrated how he saw the world, which was unlike anyone else before him. He saw the world as colorful and always moving. Even though he had a hard life and suffered from depression he could still see the world in color and not black and white like most people.
We both had the same insight when we initially saw the painting, that the brush strokes demonstrate movement and gives life to the painting. Sierra agreed with us because during the interview she stated “You can feel the movement of the wind because of the brush strokes”. Sierra also said “This painting makes me want to go right outside and look at the sky”. This just demonstrated how powerful a piece of art can be. Just by seeing a picture of the painting it conveyed emotion and demonstrated what Van Gogh saw. This particular picture of Van Gogh’s presented a lot of emotion because instead of using just black Vincent used different shades of blues and yellow. When taking a closer look at the painting a second time we noticed how the light from the stars and the moon reach out into the darkness. This demonstrates how light can invade into the darkness in your personal life as well. This painting is also quite peaceful because the image of laying down looking at the stars is relaxing and calming but it also demonstrated the wonders of the sky and the universe above. We can learn many things from Vincent Van Gogh and his paints. We can learn to see the world in color and not black and white even when things get ruff. To not ignore the little things in life, like a tree, building, and a starry night.
