Vincent Van Gogh lived during the late 1800’s, a time of postimpressionism, where artists took subjective views and painted their world according to their own unique personalities and perceptions. The most famous piece by Van Gogh, Starry Night, was created while he was seeking treatment in a mental asylum for his illness. In the work, Van Gogh portrays an unnamed European village amongst a dark wilderness, complete with dimmed lights. Notably, the message being revealed through the painting is about Van Gogh’s psychological state of mind. The elements and principles in the painting Starry Night seem to be reflective of the disturbance that Van Gogh suffered in his personal life. This piece of work echoes great emotional intensity all the way from hope to despair. 

One of the first eye catcher’s in the painting was the composition of it. It is structured by Van Gogh’s seemingly ordered placement of figures and objects which leads to ideas of Van Gogh’s emotions at the time, and why he chose to place certain things where he did. The night sky is very emphasized, and makes up a majority of the painting. Throughout the sky there are twirling clouds, shining stars, and a glaring crescent moon that is located in the top right corner. The view of the night sky and the village that lay beneath it, are slightly hidden by a giant cypress bush in the shallow focus of the painting. The houses in the village are very miniscule, and seem to intermix with the forest and mountain off in the background. The layout of the painting is an indication of the mental dislocation of Van Gogh’s thoughts and feelings at the time.

After closely analyzing the composition of Starry Night, many contributions were able to be made to help understand the interference of emotions in Van Gogh’s life. The night sky is very overwhelming, being that it easily captures one’s attention. The ability of the sky to have such a powerful effect on emotion is because of the symbolic meaning behind it. The night sky typically represents feelings of darkness and loneliness which in essence shows why Van Gogh portrayed it the way he did. Assumptions can be made that Van Gogh was in silence when painting this picture, and therefore was in the midst of his despairing emotions. The way in which the clouds were strangely painted allows for the work as a whole to be seen as uncanny. The heavy brush strokes that make up the clouds could allow one to believe the idea that Van Gogh suffered from some form of severe attack that effected his capability to perform. However, he does show consistency in his work so he could just have his own very odd style of painting. The shining stars that Van Gogh placed throughout the sky illustrate a critical change in his emotions. The stars give the audience a reason to presume the thought that Van Gogh still had optimistic emotions of hope in his life. Stars generally symbolize light that guides one forward and in the right direction. Essentially, the stars represent the fact that Van Gogh could have begun to find a cure of his illness. If the sky was a complete dark sky than this assumption could not be made, but the fact that it has some light allows for the thoughts of change in his emotions. The tiny village in the painting adds to the comfort Van Gogh may have been starting to feel. Even though it is dark in the village, peacefulness seemed to have been passing through his mind. In contrast with the serene feeling from the village, it could also be argued that the village was a sign of ignorance in Van Gogh’s view. It represents the world to Van Gogh at the given time, so the restful feeling could reflect Van Gogh’s depression. Another reason to believe that the village could be reflected negatively is because it is located in the foreground. Not displaying the village clear and visibly in the painting leaves one to think that Van Gogh did not care for it to be seen by the audience. The steeple in the center of the village sticks out and may symbolize unity. Van Gogh’s reason of isolating this could be to signify his isolation in life. Not everyone can say that they struggle with their mental state, and that is what isolates him from the rest. The painting is disrupted by a large cypress bush. Typically, cypress bushes are associated with mourning. The way in which it is painted brings much attention to the eye. This makes it seem as if Van Gogh wanted it to be noticeable. This could lead to the assumption that the Cypress represents the despair that Van Gogh could have been going through in that moment. Since death is usually associated with this specific bush, Van Gogh must have been tossing away his intensity for life. Due to the composition of the objects in the photo, Van Gogh’s rollercoaster of emotions are easily able to be seen.

Van Gogh’s choice of color in the Starry Night has led to various reasons as to how his use of elements in this painting develop the idea that his intense emotions are constantly fluctuating. The abundant shades of blue, green, yellow, orange, and grey that Van Gogh uses correspond to the true character of the painting. In particular, the dark shades of blue and grey that fulfill a majority of the night sky, add a gloomy and depressing feeling of emotion. Clearly Van Gogh experienced these feelings for a good part of his life, so it makes sense as to why these colors would cover most of the painting. Ignorance is also seen throughout the dark colors because of how attracting they are. Contrastingly, the variety of bright colors used in the painting come across as unusual, and lead to assumptions that Van Gogh may have been suffering from some sort of brain disease. Why would one use such an odd combination of color when having such a free choice? That is the answer that no one knows which allows the audience to make assumptions that Van Gogh suffered some form of head trauma. The bright colors could also have been used to contrast Van Gogh’s ideas of life and death because they are the main source of light in the painting. Life and death could have been debatable to Van Gogh because of the turmoil he encountered throughout his life. With that being said, the main light source is coming from nature; the stars, not man. As stated earlier in the essay, the village has a dark and gloomy scene. Due to the minimum light coming from the village, conclusions can be drawn that the people in the village are unaware of the bursting life occurring in the sky. Although the few lights that are on in the houses may give Van Gogh a feeling of protection from the darkness. These lights show signs of his slow recovery while at the asylum. Colors are strongly used to suggest emotion, and they easily allow a diverse number of interpretations to be made.

In conclusion, Van Gogh spent his life as an artist during a time where artists reflected upon their views of life, and the way they thought and felt. Emotions were clearly painted into pictures that allowed for many perspectives to be taken from each element involved. Van Gogh’s distinct and diverse use of various elements and principles in his paintings visibly portrayed the interferences that he faced throughout his lifetime. In the Starry Night, all the little details add together to show a big picture, and in this case it was the great emotional intensity that Van Gogh faced.