
The Starry Night is a portrait created by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. He painted the artwork from the view outside the window of a mental asylum. He moved into the asylum after cutting off one of his ears.  Vincent Van Gogh suffered a troubled lifetime. Throughout his career, he spent his years in poverty. Not only did he live in poverty, but he also suffered from relationship hardships. His artwork was recognized after he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Van Gogh warps into a twisted dreamy representation of reality through his artwork by expressing his inner emotions and feelings using different artistic elements of color, brushstroke, and location.

Van Gogh’s intricate color usage displayed in The Starry Night is an interesting mixture. The colors blue, yellow, and green bring Van Gogh’s emotion into perspective. His emotions are also justified through the painting. The color blue is usually associated with sadness. According to Bourn, the color blue represent depression; “The terms ‘feeling blue’ or ‘getting the blues’ refers to the extreme calm feelings associated with blue, such as sadness and depression” (Bourn). In the painting, the wind and topography are colored with different shades of blue, which represents the different depression stages of tragic events of Van Gogh. The blue contrasts greatly against the yellow stars and the moon. The yellow attracts the attention of the viewer to gaze upon the stars and the moon. Not only does it contrast in color with the shades of blue and green, the yellow introduces a positive emotion, a sign of hope for Van Gogh. Bourn states that yellow represent positivity, “Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy” (Bourn). The dark green color of the vegetation on the hill and houses emphasizes the style’s mood. The color is rather neutral because the combination between yellow and blue creates green. The contrasting mixture of warm and cool colors complements well, creating a neutral color.

The brushstrokes in The Starry Night spice up the painting with texture. The type of brushstroke was an impression of abstractness and mellowness in Van Gogh’s paintings. The mellowness from the strokes provides a blend of contrasting colors. Jia Li, a researcher from Stanford, states that multiple paintings of Van Gogh’s work implement this type of stylistic element. It gives a way of providing a slight three-dimensional view of the painting that provides a depth of field. This element brings out the colors of the painting to connect with the viewer. The Museum of Modern Art describe the painting style to be brilliant, “Van Gogh was known for his thick application of paint on canvas, called impasto. An Italian word for ‘paste’ or ‘mixture’, impasto is used to describe a painting technique where paint is laid on so thickly that the texture of brush strokes are clearly visible” (MoMA). The impasto effects provide an archaic glow to the stars and the moon. The impasto also plays a dramatic role in painting the atmosphere, an element of portraying the wind flow. This style of texture represents Van Gogh’s bumpy ride of life and his way of expressing the style to the audience.

The location of the asylum makes this picture significant. The position is elevated so that it watches over the town. Van Gogh would not have been at the asylum without the past troubled experiences that would later build up his personality. Van Gogh’s new works were built upon his previous artworks. This was a way for Van Gogh to practice his style to perfection. The asylum motivated and inspired Van Gogh to create the intricate piece that would be praised by artists and viewers until this day. Paulson explains that Van Gogh incarcerated himself to the asylum to stay focused on his works; “During his convalescence there, Van Gogh was encouraged to paint, though he rarely ventured more than a few hundred yards from the asylum's walls” (Paulson).  Audiences can easily derive Van Gogh’s personality based on his style of painting. He was an introvert who depended heavily on his drawings. 

The use of color, stroke, and location help dictate that Van Gogh was an artist that used artistic elements to convey himself. The mixture of contrasting elements is used in a way that blends well together. Without knowing the tragic background of his past, gazers could easily identify it through his works. The art piece speaks to the audience through sight rather than words. The abstractness hidden in his art makes it hard to understand what he is truly conveying. Breaking down the elements piece-by-piece, then comparing it to the piece itself, makes it easier to convey what he is trying to say. Individuals could have different interpretations of the painting. Most interpretation comes from viewers’ past experiences, which dictates the opinions of the “real meaning” behind The Starry Night.  Viewers may never know what he is trying to say because he is deceased. However, by examining his artistic elements, spectators are close to translating his painting.
