"Starry Night" Designed By Artist Vincent Van Gogh

“Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh is one of the premiere images of impressionist art and is part of the permanent collection at the MoMA in New York City. The piece is a vision of color that makes a seamless transition from canvas to audience.

The darkness of the night seems to dominate the image and the indigo tonality of the piece sets a somber tone which echoes the cool feeling of night. The color carries an emotional charge and darkens the peripheral vision of the viewer to make the piece that much more enthralling. The bright hues of the varying yellows, oranges and whites of the stars serve a as complements to the varying hues of blue that compose the night. The simultaneous contrast of the brightly lit orange and yellow moon makes it shine that much brighter against the night sky which in turn recedes into further darkness from this contrast.

The value of the night sky gives it its wispy texture and the tinting and shading of the blue gives the appearance of a cool light blue wind sweeping through the quietness of the night sky. The curvilinear swirl of wind has settled near the vertical axis becoming one of the focal points of the painting. The other focal points lie on either side of the cool blue swirl of wind in the form of the emblazoned moon and the dark, nearly black tree rising from the bottom left. The three create a bilateral asymmetry proportionately, but in respect to their colors they all balance eachother out and achieve equilibrium. The imposing size of the tree in the foreground is a dark mass that is balance by the brightness of the moon. The warm moon isn’t overpowered by the dark tree and vice versa. The swirling high-value wind is neutral between the two and the juxtaposition of the three provides a gradient that the eye can transition through as it explores the painting. The dark tree brings the eye to the town nestled in the valley and the church steeple brings it back up to the winds that flow in its legato rhythm to the moon and the stars and back into the secondary coloring of the hill line that harmonizes with the rest of the piece.

“Starry Night” is a revelation of serenity thanks to its cool and calm color scheme and naturally flowing lines. Only the brush of Van Gogh could create such a masterpiece and it will continue to awe and inspire all who take the time to understand the eccentricities of the painting and the artist.