Description and Technique Used
Van Gogh preferred to layer his paint thickly on the canvas in a method called impasto. Starry Night is an oil painting impasto on canvas, done during the post-impressionist period (Artible 2014). It is 73.7 by 92.1 centimeters.
Within the painting, Van Gogh uses a contrast in lines to show depth, as he painted the city with calm straight lines and the sky in chaotic swirls. In addition, the town’s solid linear lines are meant to show that it is quiet and without movement, it is asleep. While on the other side of the spectrum is the sky full of languid lines that swirl because the painter wants the viewer to feel how alive the sky is. He wrote his brother Theo, “The starry night is more alive and more richly colored than the day” (Varnedoe), which has been thought to mean that Van Gogh was more invested in the stars than he was the city below them. The underlying landscape is uniform other than the cypresses in the foreground. It is separate from the city and contains moving lines that create an almost flame-like shape. It is the only object in the painting that is more a part of the night sky than the background of the city. The combination of the impasto technique and the varying line structure gives viewers the impression that the painting is moving, thus capturing the life Van Gogh sees in the night sky.
Within the painting, Van Gogh uses a contrast in lines to show depth, as he painted the city with calm straight lines and the sky in chaotic swirls. In addition, the town’s solid linear lines are meant to show that it is quiet and without movement, it is asleep. While on the other side of the spectrum is the sky full of languid lines that swirl because the painter wants the viewer to feel how alive the sky is. He wrote his brother Theo, “The starry night is more alive and more richly colored than the day” (Varnedoe), which has been thought to mean that Van Gogh was more invested in the stars than he was the city below them. The underlying landscape is uniform other than the cypresses in the foreground. It is separate from the city and contains moving lines that create an almost flame-like shape. It is the only object in the painting that is more a part of the night sky than the background of the city. The combination of the impasto technique and the varying line structure gives viewers the impression that the painting is moving, thus capturing the life Van Gogh sees in the night sky.