Paintings often have a hidden and deeper meaning than one may see at first sight. Van Gogh was generally known for his paintings having a clandestine significance. Van Gogh uses various elements of visual representation in his painting, The Starry Night, that relate to his own personal conflicts. Van Gogh’s true meaning in his painting is proven by his use of composition, light, and color. Composition of a painting is one of the more essential elements in finding the true message. 

Van Gogh begins with the use of composition to allude to his own personal struggle. The Starry Night includes various references to van Gogh’s personal conflicts. At this time in van Gogh’s life, he faced obstacles with his illness. He relates to the illness by using the contoured formations; these give his painting a feeling of twisting and turning as if on a journey. Van Gogh’s use of the contouring describes his life and his out of the ordinary techniques. The brush strokes that he uses create a flow in the way the sky is shown, and they also tend to represent the dodging of obstacles that he has to face in his personal life. The twists and turns of the sky allow Van Gogh to portray his illness to the viewers. Also, the composition of the town placement and design gives a certain feel of solitude. He experiences his own solitude in life, for he is ill and unable to socialize or interact with many others. Van Gogh additionally has a sense of isolation because of his particular ailment. He portrays his emotion and seclusion through the composition of the town. The church steeple brings the small town together, for church is generally known as a symbol of unity. The unity of this town also implies that it is separate from the surrounding area. The location of the town is in the middle of a valley, as the navy hills in the background appear to surround the village. The valley represents a peaceful area. Van Gogh was quite close to his time of passing when he painted The Starry Night. Nearing his death, Van Gogh painted the valley to show that he was near his time of passing, for he knew his illness was severe. The deep and dark valley represents the darkness in his life, for he was on the edge of death. Thus, the composition is able to display the emotions and struggles of Van Gogh himself. Not only does Van Gogh show his personal troubles through the composition of his work, but he also presents it through the use of light.

Light is used heavily to convey particular parts of Van Gogh’s personal issues. Light exemplifies the variation of darkness and brightness and the relation to Van Gogh. The yellow spirals throughout the sky signify an importance of the sky and its large amount of bright stars. Van Gogh contrasts the stars with the surrounding darkness in the sky and in the village, and this exhibits that his life has brightness that is enclosed in sadness and mourning. The extreme lights and darkness have a sense of life and death to them, and the blending of the colors in between shows how close the two are from each other. He presents an intermixing of life and death in order to portray how close life and death are in his final time of life. Van Gogh’s own life was near death for an extended period of time towards the end of his life. Also, similar to the paintings composition, the darkness of the village suggests a quiet and unpopular setting. The cypress tree found towards the left side of the painting also is extremely dark, and it partially interrupts the sky as well. The dark interruption of the Cyprus tree to the sky represents the deep hurt inside of Van Gogh, as the tree juts into the sky for all the viewers to see. Therefore, the light differences allude to Van Gogh’s inner struggles. Not only is the use of light and darkness have reference to Van Gogh’s personal obstacles, but the paint color he uses is also important.

Paint colors are able to have numerous meanings in all types of paintings, and in The Starry Night van Gogh’s inner problems are shown through the color. The wide use of dark blue sets a mood of sadness and a calm night. The dark blue shows the inner feelings of van Gogh, as he feels sorrow and sadness. The various blues and greys, that van Gogh uses in the sky, suggests fluidity and constant flow throughout the sky. The contrasting use of the yellow, that blends into the sky, designs a sense of power and life. Also, the yellow swirls in the sky produce a feeling of movement above the village. Van Gogh paints this exhibiting the feelings he has, for he presents himself as the village and other around him are the moving sky. With his illness, he perceives himself as a dull and calm object, yet others around him are bright with movement and life. The colors in The Starry Night are overall calm and allow van Gogh to present that he is calm, as he knows his own death is near. Overall, composition, light, and color show the relation between the painting and van Gogh’s inner conflicts.

Thus, the visual elements are able to show a deeper meaning in van Gogh’s life. Van Gogh conveys the obstacles and twists and turns in his life through the swirls in the night sky. The darkness of the cypress tree gives the feeling of darkness, that van Gogh experiences at this time. Lastly, the calm color of navy blue presents the calmness in van Gogh’s own life as he approaches death. In conclusion, the usage of composition, light, and color grant van Gogh the ability to communicate his own problems through the use of these visual elements. 