Vincent van Gogh’s (research project)/ appointment monday @2pm

1. Prof. Rosen                                                                                                 Rodney Harris
2. English 1121-5421                                                                                  April 24^th 2009

Research Paper

On

Vincent Van Gogh’s

A Starry Night

Starry Night is an art piece that was painted by Vincent Willem Van Gogh. Van Gogh was an artist who was born in Zundert Netherlands and whose paintings were highly influences by the post-impressionist period when French art was on the rise and marked by the increase use of bright colors and real life subjects. Van Gogh was a painter who had tried his hands at multiple tasks prior to finally setting down and becoming the renowned artist he is today. According to the Journal of Psychiatry, he was raised in a religious family and his father and grandfather were pastors. He tried preaching just like his father in a dilapidated mining village but even that failed. He also tried working with various art dealers but in the end, Van Gogh would have concluded that he worked best alone. When he started painting, he did so effortlessly, which led to one of the most popular paintings known to man this day- The Starry Night, which can be seen in the Museum of Art  in the State of New York .

The Starry Night was painted in 1889 and it was during this time that Van Gogh had voluntarily committed himself to a mental asylum at Saint-Paul-de Marisole hospital which was previously a monastery in the Province of St Rémy. His depression had gotten so bad that it became the driving force behind the painting in question. During this admittance to the asylum his exposure to the outside world became nullified. His art work took on the form of isolation that he felt. In a profound but comprehendible manner, the Starry Night may be the perfect replica of Van Gogh was experiencing. It is strongly believed that it is at this time in Van Gogh’s life that he was faced with overwhelming ideas of paintings for which words couldn’t suffice. In order to express all the despair, sadness, joy and or happiness that Van Gogh may have been feeling; his younger brother Theo, requested an extra adjoining room where Van Gogh would continue his painting whenever he wanted.

On opportune days, Van Gogh would work on Starry Night. It is important to take a descriptive look at Van Gogh’s painting as it held much answers to where, when and why he painted Starry Night and the various influences that led to its outcome. According to Soth and Whitney, The Starry Night was painted only after Van Gogh’s voluntarily admittance to the asylum. At his time of admission, Van Gogh had already experienced some unfortunate events. He was dismissed from the village wherein he preached, he had several falling out with the various art dealers that he worked with and the very individual that may have been an inspiration to him (Gaugin) separated himself from Gaugin after he became extremely angry towards him. Even though the events surrounding these conclusions were not detailed; it is apparent that Van Gogh did have some trouble in his life.

In essence, many researchers have argued that Starry Night is a painting past reality. According to Whitney the art piece was a combination of reality and fantasy. This therefore suggests that Van Gogh himself would manipulate what he saw and incorporated his imaginative imagery into the paintings. I agree with the above mentioned research findings because some aspects of the artwork echo a cry for help and assistance from a higher power. According to Soth and Whitney Van Gogh had written several letters to his close friend and brother Theo, in which he expressed his deep seated emotions and obsessive need to paint Starry Night; not how he had visualized it, but in reality it was how he felt it should be. I am led to believe that this brought great consolation to Van Gogh and somehow may be a compensation for the turmoil he had experienced in the past.

The main purpose of this research paper then is to analyze the themes surrounding the dramatic Starry Night that we have come to know.  The unspoken hurt, joy, sadness and pain the unknown thoughts and abandonment that Van Gogh may have only shared through letter and artistry. To have a better understanding it was necessary to decode the painting and analyze important elements that spoke volume of the painting.

First and foremost (as previously mentioned) Starry Night was painted during his admittance and according to Soth, environmental changes and the time wherein the Starry Night was painted did not correlate. According to Soth, “the moon was not the crescent moon that appears in the painting…the moon then, was still in the full phase and its shape was gibbous, that is, between a full circle and a half circle.” Hence this is the first piece of evidence that not only suggests manipulation but also that the shape of the moon may have been taken from his imagination or taken from another time when environmental changes (weather) were different.

Another piece of evidence that was identified as having emotional ties was the black taunting tree that he painted in the foreground reaching up to the sky. This same very tree was described by Anne Sexton in her poem as a “black-haired tree slips up like a drowned woman into the hot sky” indicative of a cry or plea for help from the heavens, but in essence it may very well represent Van Gogh crying out to God for help. It’s interesting to note the approach that Van Gogh took to create this painting. The darkness and silence expressed by Sexton may very well reveal the hurt, sadness and even gloom that Van Gogh may have been feeling. Yet the heavens having an apt to breath life into lifelessness simultaneously reflects Van Gogh’s belief that there must be a God somewhere who could help him.

Despite the unsung tale, it can be inferred that there is more to this painting than what meets the eye. It is obvious that there are some religious implications behind this painting.  According to Whitney, Theo received letters from Van Gogh with the following quote. “Now I work from memory. Gaugin gives me courage to use my imagination” and in another he confessed that Starry Night had religious significance to him. From hereon out, Van Gogh’s imagination will take hold until the painting is done. Soth confirmed that during his commitment to the asylum “beneath his actual cell was an enclosed field, but in the painting, Van Gogh depicted cypresses and village.” So what else is from Van Gogh’s imagination? We have already confirmed the well developed village he painted, and the crescent moon. Nevertheless, the church was an input also from his imagination. “Soth stated that “St. Martin, the church in St. Remy has a dome…the church in The Starry Night is not domed…with its tall spire, it is a type of church rare in Provence but common in the north and especially common in Brabant, Van Gogh’s homeland.”

And then there are those remarkable strokes of his brush indicating a strong presence of the night wind Sexton referred to the wind as “the old unseen serpent” that “swallows up the stars” and Whitney concludes “that Van Gogh was influenced by illustrations of comet or by drawing of spiral galaxies in books by the popular French writer/astronomer Camille Flammarion. This comment proves that Van Gogh’s method of painting was not only encouraged by his friend Gaugin but maybe also by Flammarion.

It would be unfair to conclude that Van Gogh was unable to express himself through words but it is also wrong to assume that his painting did not speak eloquently about the deep-seated unstable emotions that danced within him. It is apparent that Vincent painted a very dramatic sky. Sexton maintained that “even the moon bulges in its orange irons to push children like a god, from its eye.” This creates in the mind of the reader that the moon may be shining so brightly that it appears that it is pushing the stars aside. This too was another input from Van Gogh’s mind.

So what does this say about Van Gogh as an artist? Does it confirm that he was an imaginative artist or was he one of the few artists who have witnessed a perfect Starry Night? Or, was he an artist with a troubled past, unaccomplished dreams and goals that resulted in his passionate love for art.  One thing is sure; Vincent was psychologically trapped between fantasy and reality. His voluntary admittance provided for times of reflection where he would paint images that burnt in his mind. He had mentioned many times to his brother Theo that there were images for which there were no words.

In 2002 Dietrich Blumer M.D. argued that Van Gogh suffered from episodes of severe depression to mania. It then cannot be denied that maybe, just maybe the expressions depicted by Van Gogh’s brush may have taken place during times when he was experiencing one of those episodes; be it mania or depression. Blumer also maintained that Van Gogh became preoccupied with identifying how he could be of ‘good use’ on Earth and after preaching and evangelism failed, Van Gogh turned to art.

It can be concluded that Van Gogh may have painted from his imagination. However, it is uncouth to conclude that Van Gogh’s paintings are aimless and without meaning. According to Soth Van Gogh’s would write to his brother Theo with multiple letters stating the hidden emotions behind his paintings. Starry Night may be an imaginative art to many, but every drawing completed by Van Gogh may have very well been the pages of the chapter of his life. The Starry Night is one of the most remarkable paintings by Van Gogh; he completed it days before taking his own life while in as