What influenced the creation of the painting Starry Night. Painting “Starry Night”, Vincent Van Gogh - description and video review

"The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh is one of the most... famous works visual arts. But what is the meaning of this masterpiece of painting?
Most people can tell you that Vincent Van Gogh was a famous impressionist who painted The Starry Night. Many people have heard that Van Gogh was “crazy” and suffered from mental illness throughout his life. The story of Van Gogh cutting off his ear after a fight with his friend French artist Paul Gauguin, is one of the most popular in the history of art. After which he was placed in a psychiatric hospital in the city of Saint-Rémy, where the painting “Starry Night” was painted. Did Van Gogh's health affect the meaning and imagery of the painting?

Religious interpretation

In 1888, Van Gogh wrote a personal letter to his brother Theo: “I still need religion. That’s why I left the house at night and started drawing stars.” As you know, Van Gogh was religious, even serving as a priest in his youth. Many scientists believe that the painting contains religious meaning. Why are there exactly 11 stars in the film “Starry Night”?

“Behold, I saw another dream: behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars worshiped.”[Genesis 37:9]

Perhaps by painting exactly 11 stars, Vincent van Gogh is referring to Genesis 37:9, which tells of the dreamy Joseph who was cast out by his 11 brothers. It is not difficult to understand why Van Gogh could compare himself to Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery and deprived of his freedom, as was Van Gogh, who made Arles his refuge in last years life. No matter what Joseph did, he could not earn the respect of his 11 older brothers. In the same way, Van Gogh, as an artist, failed to gain the favor of society, the critics of his time.

Van Gogh - cypress?

Cypress, like daffodils, appears in many of Van Gogh's paintings. It would not be surprising if Van Gogh, in that depressive period when The Starry Night was written, associated himself with the frightening, almost supernatural cypress tree on foreground paintings. This cypress is ambiguous, it is contrasted with such bright stars in the sky. Perhaps this is Van Gogh himself - strange and repulsive, he reaches out to the stars, to the recognition of society.

Starlight Night(Turbulence SPF Darina), 1889, Museum contemporary art, NY

“Looking at the stars, I always start to dream. I ask myself: why should the bright points on the sky be less accessible to us than the black points on the map of France?” - wrote Van Gogh. “And just as a train takes us to Tarascon or Rouen, so death will take us to one of the stars.” The artist told his dream to the canvas, and now the viewer is surprised and dreams, looking at the stars painted by Van Gogh.

An abyss full of stars has opened.

The stars have no number, the bottom of the abyss.

Lomonosov M.V.

The starry sky as a symbol of infinity attracts and fascinates a person. It is impossible to take your eyes off the picture, which depicts a living sky swirling in a whirlwind of eternal galactic motion. Even those who have little knowledge of art have no doubts about who painted the painting “Starry Night”. The not real, imaginary sky is written with rough, sharp strokes, emphasizing the spiral movement of the stars. Before Van Gogh, no one had seen such a sky. After Van Gogh it is impossible to imagine starry sky to others.

The history of the painting “Starry Night”

One of the most famous paintings Vincent van Gogh painted in the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence asylum in 1889, one year before his death. Mental disorder the artist was accompanied by severe headaches. To somehow distract himself, Van Gogh painted, sometimes several paintings a day. That the hospital staff should allow the unfortunate person and no one at that time unknown artist, work, his brother Theo took care.

The artist painted most of the landscapes of Provence with irises, haystacks and wheat fields from life, looking through the window of the hospital ward into the garden. But “Starry Night” was created from memory, which was completely unusual for Van Gogh. It is possible that at night the artist made sketches and sketches, which he later used in creating the canvas. The drawing from life is complemented by the artist’s imagination, weaving phantoms born in the imagination with fragments of reality.

Description of Van Gogh's painting “Starry Night”

The real view from the east bedroom window is closer to the viewer. Between vertical line cypress trees growing on the edge of a wheat field, and the image of a non-existent village placed diagonally across the sky.

The space of the picture is divided into two unequal parts. Most of it is given to the sky, the smaller part is given to people. The top of the cypress tree is directed upward, towards the stars, looking like tongues of cold greenish-black flame. The spire of the church, rising between squat houses, also reaches towards the sky. The cozy light of the burning windows is a little reminiscent of the glow of the stars, but against their background it seems weak and completely dim.

The life of the breathing sky is much richer and more interesting than human life. Unprecedentedly large stars emit a magical glow. Spiral galactic vortices swirl with merciless swiftness. They draw the viewer in, take him into the depths of space, away from the cozy and sweet little world of people.

The center of the picture is occupied by not one stellar vortex, but two. One is large, the other is smaller, and the larger one seems to be chasing the smaller one... and pulls it into itself, absorbs it without hope of salvation. The canvas evokes in the viewer a feeling of anxiety, excitement, despite the fact that the color scheme includes positive shades of blue, yellow, Green colour. The much more peaceful painting Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh uses darker and more somber tones.

Where is The Starry Night stored?

The famous work, written in a mental hospital, is kept at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The painting belongs to the category of priceless paintings. The price of the original painting “Starry Night” has not been determined. It cannot be bought for any money. This fact should not upset true connoisseurs of painting. The original is available to any museum visitor. High-quality reproductions and copies, of course, do not have real energy, but they can convey part of the plan of a brilliant artist.

Description of Van Gogh's painting “Starry Night”

Dealer appointed to Paris in 1875 art gallery Vincent Van Gogh had no idea that this city would change his life. Young man attracted by the Louvre exhibitions and Luxembourg Museum, he began to teach himself painting. True, slightly carried away by religion, which became an outlet after unhappy London love.

A few years later he finds himself in a Belgian village, but no longer as a dealer, but as a preacher. He sees that religion is not interested in alleviating human suffering and decisive choice in your life - art.

It is worth noting that understanding Van Gogh’s motives and worldview is quite difficult, despite the simplicity of his paintings. Biographers constantly focus on his Dutch origin, the same as Rembrandt’s, forgetting that mental illness occurred in the artist’s family. He cut his ears and drank absinthe, trying to find a connection between man and the outside world, painted sunflowers, self-portraits and “Starry Night”.

Interestingly, famous picture, which is now in New York's Museum of Modern Art, is not Van Gogh's first attempt to paint the sky at night. While in Arles, he created “Starry Night over the Rhone,” but it was not at all what the author wanted. And the artist wanted fabulousness, unreality and amazing world. In letters to his brother, he calls the desire to paint the stars and the night sky a lack of religion, and says that the idea for the canvas was born to him a long time ago: cypress trees, stars in the sky and, perhaps, a field of ripe wheat.

So, the picture, which is a figment of the artist’s imagination, was painted in Saint-Rémy. "Starry Night" is still considered the most phantasmagorical and mysterious canvas by the artist - the non-fictional nature of the plot and its extraterrestrial character are so felt. Such drawings are usually made by children, depicting spaceship or a rocket, and here is an artist for whom the essence of the surrounding world is so important.

The fact that the picture was painted in a psychiatric hospital is no secret. Van Gogh at that time was tormented by attacks of madness, which were unpredictable and spontaneous. So “Starry Night” became a kind of therapy for him to help him cope with the disease. Hence its emotionality, color and uniqueness - in hospital confinement there is always a shortage bright colors, sensations and experiences. Maybe that’s why “Starry Night” became one of must have in the world of art - it is discussed by critics of more than one generation, it attracts museum visitors, it is duplicated, embroidered on pillows...

The painting has countless interpretations, starting with the number of stars depicted. There are eleven of them, in brightness and saturation they resemble Star of Bethlehem. But here’s the problem: in 1889, Van Gogh was no longer interested in theology and did not feel the need for religion, but the legend of the birth of Jesus greatly influenced his worldview. It was such a night and such a mysterious glow of stars that marked Christmas. Another moment of the biblical interpretation of the picture is associated with the Book of Genesis, namely with a quote from it: “... I had a dream again... In it there was the sun and the moon, and eleven stars, and everyone bowed to me.”

In addition to the opinions of researchers about the influence of religion on Van Gogh’s work, there are meticulous geographers who still have not figured out what kind of settlement the artist painted. Luck does not smile on astronomers either: they cannot understand which constellations are depicted on the canvas. And weather forecasters are also at a loss: how can the sky be swirling with whirlwinds if at night it is shrouded in serenity and cold indifference.

And only the only hint of the solution was given by the artist himself, writing in 1888: “Looking at the stars, I always begin to dream. I ask myself: why should bright spots on the sky be less accessible to us than black spots on a map of France? So researchers are still deciding which part of the country of high fashion Van Gogh depicted.

What is it that is depicted in this picture that it torments millions, forcing them to search for a solution? A village against the backdrop of a starry sky, and that’s it. Is that all? The blue spiral sky occupies the entire space; the village is just a background for the sky. The majesty of the sky is somewhat softened by the incredibly bright yellow stars, and the mystery of “Starry Night” is given by cypress trees, to which both heaven and earth claim rights.

Interestingly, the panorama of the village has features characteristic of both northern and southern French regions. It is called a generalized image of human settlements. And while he sleeps, a mystery occurs in the sky: the luminaries move, creating new worlds in the menacing and so attractive sky.

The month and stars are simply amazing, they will be remembered for a long time: surrounded by huge halos in the form of spheres various shades– gold, blue and mysterious white. Celestial bodies as if they emit cosmic light, illuminating the blue-blue spiral sky. It is interesting that the wave-like rhythm of the sky captures both the crescent moon and the brightest stars - everything is just like in the soul of Van Gogh himself. The spontaneity of "Starry Night" is actually ostentatious. The painting is thought out and composed very carefully: it seems balanced thanks to the cypress trees and the harmonious selection of the palette.

Its color scheme cannot but surprise with its unique combination of rich dark blue (even a shade of the Moroccan night), rich and sky blue, to black green, chocolate brown and sea green. There are several shades of yellow, which the artist plays with as best he can, depicting the trails of stars. It has the color of sunflowers, butter, egg yolk, pale yellow…. And the composition of the picture itself: trees, the crescent moon, stars and a town in the mountains is filled with truly cosmic energy...

The stars seem truly bottomless, the crescent moon gives the impression of the sun, the cypress trees look more like tongues of flame, and the spiral curls seem to hint at the Fibonacci sequence. Whatever it is state of mind Van Gogh at that time, “Starry Night” does not leave indifferent any person who saw at least its reproduction.

Maria Revyakina, art critic:

The picture is divided into two horizontal planes: the sky ( top part) and the land (cityscape below), which is pierced by the vertical cypress trees. Soaring into the sky like tongues of flame, the cypress trees with their outlines resemble a cathedral made in the “flaming Gothic” style.

In many countries, cypress trees are considered cult trees; they symbolize the life of the soul after death, eternity, the frailty of existence, and help the deceased find the shortest path to heaven. Here these trees come to the fore; they are the main characters of the picture. This construction reflects the main meaning of the work: suffering human soul(perhaps the soul of the artist himself) belongs to both heaven and earth.

Interestingly, life in heaven looks more attractive than life on earth. This feeling is created thanks to the bright colors and writing technique unique to Van Gogh: through long, thick strokes and rhythmic alternation of color spots, he creates a feeling of dynamics, rotation, spontaneity, which emphasizes the incomprehensibility and all-encompassing power of the Cosmos.

The sky is given most of the canvas to show its superiority and power over the world of people

The celestial bodies are depicted greatly enlarged, and the spiral-shaped vortices in the sky are stylized as images of the galaxy and the Milky Way.

Flicker effect heavenly bodies created by combining cold white and various shades of yellow. Yellow V Christian tradition was associated with divine light, with enlightenment, while white was a symbol of transition to another world.

The painting also abounds in celestial hues, from pale blue to deep blue. Blue color in Christianity it is associated with God, symbolizing eternity, meekness and humility before His will. Most of the canvas is given to the sky to show its superiority and power over the human world. All this contrasts with the muted tones of the cityscape, which looks dull in its peace and serenity.

“DON’T LET MADNESS CONSUMBLE YOURSELF”

Andrey Rossokhin, psychoanalyst:

When I first look at the picture, I notice cosmic harmony, a majestic parade of stars. But the more I peer into this abyss, the more clearly I experience a state of horror and anxiety. The vortex in the center of the picture, like a funnel, drags me away, drawing me deep into space.

Van Gogh wrote “Starry Night” in a mental hospital, during moments of clarity of consciousness. Creativity helped him come to his senses and was his salvation. I see this fascination with madness and the fear of it in the picture: at any moment it can engulf the artist, drawing him into himself like a funnel. Or is it a whirlpool? If you look only at the upper part of the picture, it is difficult to understand whether we are looking at the sky or at the rough sea in which this sky with stars is reflected.

The association with a whirlpool is not accidental: it is both the depths of space and depths of the sea, in which the artist drowns - loses his identity. Which is essentially what insanity means. The sky and water turn into one. The horizon line disappears, internal and external merge. And this moment of waiting for the loss of oneself is very strongly conveyed by Van Gogh.

The center of the picture is occupied not even by one vortex, but by two: one larger, the other smaller. A head-on collision between unequal rivals, senior and junior. Or maybe brothers? Behind this fight one can see a friendly but competitive relationship with Paul Gauguin, which ended in a deadly clash (Van Gogh at one point rushed at him with a razor, but did not kill him as a result, and later injured himself by cutting off his earlobe).

And indirectly - Vincent’s relationship with his brother Theo, too close on paper (they carried out intensive correspondence), in which, obviously, there was something forbidden. The key to this relationship may be the 11 stars depicted in the painting. They refer to a story from the Old Testament in which Joseph tells his brother: “I had a dream in which the sun, the moon, 11 stars greeted me, and everyone worshiped me.”

There is everything in the picture except the sun. Who was Van Gogh's sun? Brother, father? We don't know, but perhaps Van Gogh, who was heavily influenced by younger brother, wanted the opposite from him - submission and worship.

In fact, we see Van Gogh’s three “I”s in the painting. The first is the omnipotent “I”, which wants to dissolve in the Universe, to be, like Joseph, an object of universal worship. Second “I” – small ordinary person, freed from passions and madness. He does not see the riot that is happening in the sky, but sleeps peacefully in a small village, under the protection of the church.

The cypress is perhaps an unconscious symbol of what Van Gogh would have wanted to achieve

But, alas, the world of mere mortals is inaccessible to him. When Van Gogh cut off his earlobe, the townspeople wrote a statement to the mayor of Arles asking him to isolate the artist from other residents. And Van Gogh was sent to a mental hospital. Probably, the artist perceived this exile as punishment for the guilt he felt - for madness, for his destructive intentions, forbidden feelings for his brother and for Gauguin.

And therefore his third, main “I” is an outcast cypress tree, which is distant from the village, taken outside human world. The branches of the cypress, like tongues of flame, are directed upward. He is the only witness to the spectacle that unfolds in the sky.

This is the image of an artist who does not sleep, who is open to the abyss of passions and creative imagination. He is not protected from them by church and home. But it is rooted in reality, in the earth, thanks to powerful roots.

This cypress tree is perhaps an unconscious symbol of what Van Gogh would like to strive for. To feel a connection with the cosmos, with the abyss that feeds his creativity, but at the same time not lose connection with the earth, with his identity.

In reality, Van Gogh did not have such roots. Enchanted by his madness, he loses his footing and finds himself swallowed up in this whirlpool.

“I still have a passionate need,” I will allow myself this word, “of religion. That’s why I left the house at night and began to draw stars,” Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo.

It's worth going to New York just to meet her, " Starry night"Van Gogh.

Here I would like to give the text of my work on the analysis of this picture. Initially, I wanted to rework the text so that it would be more consistent with the article for the blog, but due to glitches in Word and lack of time, I will post it in its original form, which was difficult to restore after a program failure. I hope even original text will be at least somewhat interesting.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) – bright representative post-impressionism. Despite the difficult path of life and quite late development Van Gogh as an artist, he was distinguished by perseverance and hard work, which helped achieve great success mastery of drawing and painting techniques. Over the ten years of his life devoted to art, Van Gogh went from an experienced viewer (he began his career as an art seller, so he was familiar with many works) to a master of drawing and painting. This short period became the most vivid and emotional in the artist’s life.

The identity of Van Gogh is shrouded in mystery in the performance modern culture. Although Van Gogh left a large epistolary legacy (extensive correspondence with his brother Theo Van Gogh), accounts of his life were compiled long after his death and often contained fictitious stories and distorted views of the artist. In this regard, the image of Van Gogh as crazy artist, in a fit, cut off his own ear, and later completely shot himself. This image attracts the viewer with the mystery of the work of a crazy artist, balancing on the brink of genius and madness and mystery. But if you examine the facts of Van Gogh’s biography, his detailed correspondence, then many myths, including those about his madness, are debunked.

Van Gogh's work became accessible to a wide circle only after his death. At first his work was attributed to different directions, but they were later included in Post-Impressionism. Van Gogh's handwriting is unlike anything else, so even with other representatives of post-impressionism it cannot be compared. This is a special way of applying a smear, using different equipment strokes in one work, a certain coloring, expression, compositional features, means of expression. It is this characteristic manner of Van Gogh that we will analyze using the example of the painting “Starry Night” in this work.

Formal-stylistic analysis

"Starry Night" is one of the most famous works Van Gogh. The painting was painted in June 1889 in Saint-Rémy and has been kept in the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1941. The painting is painted in oil on canvas, dimensions – 73x92 cm, format – horizontally elongated rectangle, this easel painting. Due to the nature of the technique, the picture should be viewed at a sufficient distance.

Looking at the picture, we see night landscape. Most of the canvas is occupied by the sky - the stars, the moon, depicted large on the right, and the moving night sky. Trees rise in the foreground on the right, and a town or village is depicted below on the left, hidden in the trees. The background is dark hills on the horizon, gradually becoming higher from left to right. The painting, based on the plot described, undoubtedly belongs to the landscape genre. We can say that the artist brings to the fore the expressiveness and some conventionality of what is depicted, since the main role in the work is played by expressive distortion (color, in the technique of brushstrokes, etc.).

The composition of the picture is generally balanced - on the right with dark trees below, and on the left with a bright yellow moon above. Because of this, the composition tends to be diagonal, including because of the hills increasing from right to left. In it, the sky prevails over the earth, since it occupies most canvas, that is, the upper part prevails over the lower. At the same time, the composition also has a spiral structure that gives the initial impetus to the movement, expressed in a spiraling flow in the sky in the center of the composition. This spiral sets in motion some of the trees, the stars, the rest of the sky, the moon, and even the lower part of the composition - the village, the trees, the hills. Thus, the composition transforms from the static nature usual for the landscape genre into a dynamic, fantastic plot that captivates the viewer. Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish the background and clear planning in the work. The traditional background, the background, ceases to be a background, since it is included in the overall dynamics of the picture, and the foreground, if you take the trees and the village, is included in the spiral movement and ceases to stand out. The layout of the picture is vague and unsteady due to the combination of spiral and diagonal dynamics. Based compositional solution, we can assume that the artist’s angle of view is directed from bottom to top, since most of the canvas is occupied by the sky.

Undoubtedly, in the process of perceiving the picture, the viewer is involved in interaction with the image. This is obvious from the described compositional solution and techniques, that is, the dynamics of the composition and its direction. And also thanks to the color scheme of the painting - the color scheme, bright accents, palette, brush stroke technique.

A deep space has been created in the painting. This is achieved through color scheme, composition and movement of strokes, differences in the size of strokes. Including due to the difference in the size of what is depicted - large trees, a small village and trees near it, smaller hills on the horizon, a large moon and stars. The color scheme builds depth due to the dark foreground of the trees, the muted colors of the village and the trees around it, the bright color accents of the stars and the moon, the dark hills on the horizon, shaded by a light strip of the sky.

The picture does not meet the criterion in many ways linearity, and most expresses just picturesqueness. Since all forms are expressed through color and strokes. Although in the image of the bottom plan - the town, trees and hills, a distinction is made with separate dark contour lines. It can be said that the artist deliberately connects certain linear aspects to emphasize the difference between the upper and lower planes of the painting. Therefore, the top plan, the most important compositionally, in meaning and in terms of color and technical solutions, is the most expressive and picturesque. This part of the painting is literally sculpted with color and brushstrokes; there are no contour or any linear elements.

Concerning flatness And depths, then the picture gravitates towards depth. This is expressed in the color scheme - contrasts, darker or smoky shades, in technique - due to the different directions of strokes, their sizes, in composition and dynamics. At the same time, the volume of objects is not clearly expressed, as it is hidden by large strokes. Volumes are only outlined with individual contour strokes or created through color combinations of strokes.

The role of light in the picture is not significant in comparison with the role of color. But we can say that the sources of light in the picture are the stars and the moon. This can be seen in the brightness of the settlement and trees in the valley and the darker part of the valley on the left, in the dark trees in the foreground and the darkening hills on the horizon, especially those located on the right under the moon.

The silhouettes depicted are closely related to each other. They are inexpressive due to the fact that they are painted with large strokes; for the same reason, the silhouettes are not valuable in themselves. They cannot be perceived separately from the entire canvas. Therefore, we can talk about the desire for integrity within the picture, achieved by technology. In this regard, we can talk about the generality of what is depicted on the canvas. There is no detail due to the scale of what is depicted (far away, therefore small towns, trees, hills) and the technical solution of the painting - drawing with large strokes, dividing what is depicted into separate colors with such strokes. Therefore, it cannot be said that the picture conveys the variety of textures of what is depicted. But a generalized, rough and exaggerated hint of the difference in shapes, textures, and volumes due to the technical solution of the painting is given by the direction of the strokes, their size and the actual color.

Color in "Starry Night" plays main role. Composition, dynamics, volumes, silhouettes, depth, light are subject to color. Color in a painting is not an expression of volume, but a meaning-forming element. Thus, due to the color expression, the radiance of the stars and the moon is exaggerated. And this color expression creates not just an emphasis on them, but gives them significance within the picture, creates their semantic content. The color in the painting is not so much optically accurate as it is expressive. Using color combinations creates artistic image, expressiveness of the canvas. The painting is dominated by pure colors, combinations of which create shades, volumes and contrasts that influence perception. The boundaries of color spots are distinguishable and expressive, since each stroke creates a color spot that is distinguishable in contrast with neighboring strokes. Van Gogh focuses on spot-strokes that fragment the volumes of what is depicted. This way he achieves greater expression of color and shape and achieves dynamics in the painting.

Van Gogh creates certain colors and their shades using a combination of color spots and strokes that complement each other. The darkest places of the canvas are not reduced to black, but only to a combination dark shades different colors, creating a very dark shade in perception, close to black. The same thing happens with the lightest places - there is no pure white, but there is a combination of strokes of white with shades of other colors, in combination with which white ceases to be the most important in perception. Highlights and reflections are not clearly expressed, as they are smoothed out by color combinations.

We can say that the painting contains rhythmic repetitions of color combinations. The presence of such combinations both in the image of the valley and the settlement, and in the sky creates the integrity of the perception of the picture. Different combinations of shades of blue with each other and with other colors throughout the canvas show that it is the main color developing in the picture. The contrasting combination of blue with shades of yellow is interesting. The surface texture is not smooth, but embossed due to the volume of strokes, in some places even with gaps in the blank canvas. The strokes are clearly distinguishable and significant for the expression of the picture and its dynamics. The strokes are long, sometimes larger or smaller. They are applied in different ways, but with quite thick paint.

Returning to binary oppositions, it must be said that the picture is characterized by openness of form. Since the landscape is not fixated on itself, on the contrary, it is open, it can be expanded beyond the boundaries of the canvas, which is why the integrity of the picture will not be violated. The picture is inherent atectonic beginning. Because all the elements of the picture strive for unity, they cannot be taken out of the context of the composition or canvas, they do not have their own integrity. All parts of the picture are subordinated to a single concept and mood and do not have autonomy. This is expressed technically in composition, in dynamics, in color patterns, and in the technical solution of strokes. The picture represents incomplete (relative) clarity depicted. Since only parts of the depicted objects (tree settlement houses) are visible, many overlap each other (trees, field houses), the scales have been changed to achieve semantic accents (the stars and the moon are exaggerated).

Iconographic and iconological analysis

The actual plot of “Starry Night” or the type of landscape depicted is difficult to compare with paintings by other artists, much less to place in a series of similar works. Landscapes depicting night effects were not used by the Impressionists, since for them it was precisely lighting effects V different time daylight hours and work in the open air. Post-Impressionists, even if they did not paint landscapes from life (like Gauguin, who often painted from memory), still chose daylight hours and used new ways of depicting light effects and individual techniques. Therefore, the depiction of night landscapes can be called a feature of Van Gogh’s work (“ Night terrace cafe", "Starry Night", "Starry Night over the Rhone", "Church in Auvers", "Road with Cypresses and Stars").

Characteristic in Van Gogh's night landscapes is the use of color contrasts to emphasize important elements of the picture. The contrast of shades of blue and yellow was most often used. Night landscapes were mostly painted by Van Gogh from memory. In this regard, they paid more attention not to reproducing real lighting effects seen or of interest to the artist, but emphasized the expressiveness and unusualness of light and color effects. Therefore, light and color effects are exaggerated, which gives them additional meaning in the paintings.

If we turn to the iconological method, then in the study of “Starry Night” we can trace additional meanings in the number of stars on the canvas. Some researchers connect the eleven stars in Van Gogh's painting with the Old Testament story of Joseph and his eleven brothers. “Listen, I had a dream again,” he said. “There was in it the sun and the moon and eleven stars, and they all bowed down to me.” Genesis 37:9. Considering Van Gogh's knowledge of religion, his study of the Bible and his attempts to become a priest, the inclusion of this story as an additional meaning is justified. Although it is difficult to consider this reference to the Bible as determining the semantic content of the picture, because the stars make up only part of the canvas, and the depicted town, hills and trees are not related to the biblical plot.

Biographical method

When considering The Starry Night, it is difficult to do without biographical method research. Van Gogh painted it in 1889 while he was in the Saint-Rémy hospital. There, at the request of Theo Van Gogh, Vincent was allowed to paint in oils and make drawings during periods of improvement in his condition. Periods of improvement were accompanied by creative upsurge. Van Gogh devoted all his available time to working outdoors and wrote quite a lot.

It is noteworthy that “Starry Night” was written from memory, which is unusual for Van Gogh’s creative process. This circumstance can emphasize the special expressiveness, dynamics and color of the picture. On the other hand, these features of the picture can be explained by mental state the artist while he was in the hospital. His social circle and opportunities for action were limited, and the attacks occurred with varying degrees of intensity. And only during periods of improvement did he have the opportunity to do what he loved. During that period, painting became a particularly important way of self-realization for Van Gogh. Therefore, the canvases become more vibrant, expressive and dynamic. The artist puts great emotionality into them, since this is the only possible way to express it.

It is interesting that Van Gogh, who describes his life, thoughts and works in detail in letters to his brother, mentions The Starry Night only in passing. And although by that time Vincent had already moved away from the church and church dogmas, he writes to his brother: “I still passionately need,” I will allow myself this word, “in religion. That's why I left the house at night and started drawing stars."

Comparing "Starry Night" with more early works, we can say that it is among the most expressive, emotional and exciting. Tracing the change in his writing style throughout his creative work, there is a noticeable increase in expressiveness, color intensity, and dynamics in Van Gogh’s works. "Starry Night over the Rhone", written in 1888 - a year before "Starry Night", is not yet filled with that culmination of emotions, expressiveness, color richness and technical solutions. You can also notice that the paintings that followed “Starry Night” became more expressive, dynamic, emotionally heavy, and brighter in color. Most vivid examples- “Church in Auvers”, “Wheat field with crows”. This is how “Starry Night” can be described as the last and most expressive, dynamic, emotional and brightly colored period of Van Gogh’s work.