Van Gogh's Starry Night in good quality. Vincent Van Gogh

Artists all over the world are constantly copying Van Gogh's work " Starlight Night, Saint-Remy". This is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world of fine arts, and various reproductions of this canvas adorn the interiors of many houses. The circumstances of the creation of "Starry Night", where and how it was written, as well as previous unfulfilled dreams artist, make this work especially significant for the work of Van Gogh.

Vincent van Gogh "Starry Night, Saint Remy" 1889

When Van Gogh was a little younger, he was going to become a pastor and missionary, he wanted to help poor people with the word of God. Religious education in some way helped him create "Starry Night". In 1889, when the night sky was painted with stars sparkling in the moonlight, the artist wasin the French hospital Saint-Remy.

Count the stars - there are eleven of them.We can say that the creation of the picture was influenced ancient legend about Joseph from the Old Testament. “Behold, I had another dream: behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars worship me,” we read in the Book of Genesis.

Van Gogh wrote: “I still crave religion. That is why I went out at night from the house and began to draw the night sky with stars.
This well-known picture of the master demonstrates to the viewer the great power of the artist, as well as his individual and unique style of painting and his special vision of the whole world around him.The painting "Starry Night" is the most outstanding work of art of the mid-19th century.

There are many reasons why "Starry Night" is so attractive to people, and it's not only the saturation of blue and yellow flowers. Many details in the picture and, first of all, the stars are deliberately enlarged. It's like an embodied vision of the artist: he surrounds each of the stars with a ball, and we observe their rotational movement.
Just as the stars bend on their way down to the hilly horizon, so Van Gogh will be inclined to leave the familiar world by stepping over the threshold of the hospital. The windows of the buildings are reminiscent of the houses where he lived as a child, and the spire of the church depicted by Van Gogh in The Starry Night is reminiscent of the fact that he once wanted to devote his life to religious activities.

The main "pillars" of the composition are the seemingly huge cypress trees on the hill (foreground), the pulsating crescent and stars of the "radiant", bright yellow. A city lying in a valley may even go unnoticed at first, because the main emphasis is on the greatness of the universe.

The crescent of the moon, the stars move in a single undulating rhythm. The trees depicted in this picture greatly balance the overall composition.

The whirlwind in the sky reminds me of Milky Way, about galaxies, about cosmic harmony, expressed in both ecstatic and blissfully calm movement of all bodies in dark blue space. In the picture, these are eleven incredibly huge stars and a large, but waning month, reminiscent of biblical story about Christ and the 12 apostles.

In vain do geographers try to determine what kind of locality depicted at the bottom of the canvas, and astronomers are trying to find the constellations in the picture. The image of the night sky is written off from my own consciousness. If usually the night sky is serene and cold-indifferent, then in Van Gogh it is swirling with whirlwinds, full of secret life.

Thus, the artist hints that the imagination is omnipotent to create a more amazing nature than the one we see in the real world.

"Starlight Night"

When the darkness of the Night falls on the Earth -
Love lights up the stars in the sky...

Perhaps someone does not notice them,
And, someone observes them through a telescope -

There he is looking for life, studying science ...
And someone just looks - and dreams!

Sometimes, a fabulous Dream happens,
But still, he continues to believe ...

His star is alive, it shines,
He answers all his questions...

There, among thousands of stars - Vincent has a Star!
She never fades away!

She burns all over the universe -
She sets the planet on fire!

So that, in the midst of the dark Night, it suddenly becomes brighter -
So that the light of the Star shines like the Sun in the Soul of people!

Vincent's sister

Maria Revyakina, art historian:

The picture is divided into two horizontal planes: the sky (upper part) and the earth (urban landscape below), which are pierced by a vertical of cypresses. Soaring into the sky, like flames, cypress trees with their outlines resemble a cathedral, made in the style of "flaming Gothic".

In many countries, cypresses are considered cult trees, they symbolize the life of the soul after death, eternity, the frailty of life and help the departed 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: the suffering human soul(perhaps the soul of the artist himself) belongs to both heaven and earth.

Interestingly, life in the sky looks more attractive than life on earth. This feeling is created thanks to the bright colors and the unique technique of painting for 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.

Given to the sky most of canvas to show his superiority and power over the human world

The celestial bodies are shown greatly enlarged, and the spiraling vortices in the sky are stylized as images of the galaxy and the Milky Way.

The effect of flickering heavenly bodies is created by a combination of cold white color and various shades yellow. Yellow in the Christian tradition, it was associated with divine light, with enlightenment, while white was a symbol of transition to another world.

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

"DO NOT LET THE MADNESS CONSUME YOURSELF"

Andrey Rossokhin, psychoanalyst:

At the first glance at the picture, I notice the cosmic harmony, the 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, pulls me deep into space.

Van Gogh wrote "Starry Night" in a hospital for the mentally ill, in moments of clarity of consciousness. Creativity helped him come to his senses, it was his salvation. This is the charm of madness and the fear of it I see in the picture: at any moment it can absorb the artist, lure him in like a funnel. Or is it a whirlpool? If you look only at the top of the picture, it is difficult to understand whether we are looking at the sky or at the rippling 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 the depths of the sea, in which the artist is drowning - losing his identity. Which, in essence, is the meaning of insanity. Sky and water become one. The horizon line disappears, inner and outer merge. And this moment of expectation of losing oneself is very strongly conveyed by Van Gogh.

The center of the picture is occupied by not even one whirlwind, but two: one is larger, the other is smaller. Head-on collision of unequal rivals, senior and junior. Or maybe brothers? Behind this duel one can see a friendly but competitive relationship with Paul Gauguin, which ended in a deadly collision (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 were in intensive correspondence), in which, obviously, there was something forbidden. The key to this relationship can be 11 stars depicted in the picture. 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 met me, and everyone worshiped me."

The picture has everything but the sun. Who was Van Gogh's sun? Brother, father? We do not know, but perhaps Van Gogh, who was heavily dependent on younger brother, wanted the opposite from him - submission and worship.

In fact, we see in the picture the three "I" of Van Gogh. The first is the almighty "I", which wants to dissolve in the Universe, to be, like Joseph, the object of universal worship. The second "I" - small ordinary person freed from passion and madness. He does not see the violence that is happening in heaven, but sleeps peacefully in a small village, under the protection of the church.

Cypress is perhaps an unconscious symbol of what Van Gogh would like to strive for

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 with a request to isolate the artist from the rest of the inhabitants. And Van Gogh was sent to a hospital for the mentally ill. Probably, the artist perceived this exile as a 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, which is distant from the village, taken outside human world. Cypress branches, like flames, are directed upwards. He is the only witness to the spectacle unfolding 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 he is rooted in reality, in the earth, thanks to powerful roots.

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

In reality, Van Gogh had no such roots. Fascinated by his madness, he loses his footing and is swallowed up by this whirlpool.

Vincent van Gogh is a Dutch post-impressionist painter who had a tremendous impact on art. His works are worth tens of millions of dollars, and there are admirers of the painter's work all over the world. But all this happened after the death of the artist. Van Gogh lived a difficult and short life, only 37 years old. He was in constant search of himself as an artist, struggled with serious illness, often he did not have enough money for food, and spent all his money on paints, brushes and canvases. Nevertheless, Vincent, and he was intensively engaged in creative work for the last seven years of his life, left a huge legacy - more than two thousand paintings and graphic works. One of Van Gogh's most famous paintings is Starry Night. This masterpiece was very significant for the artist himself.

Background. Quarrel with Gauguin. The painting was preceded important events in Van Gogh's life. Everyone knows the story of the cut off ear after a quarrel with the artist Paul Gauguin. Vincent lived in Arles in 1888, where he dreamed of creating an artists' residence in the yellow house he had rented. He invited Gauguin, and the artist agreed to come. Van Gogh rejoiced like a child, he admired the talent of Paul Gauguin, painted pictures with sunflowers especially for his arrival (he wanted to decorate his friend's room with them).

During his visit to Arles, Paul Gauguin painted a portrait of Van Gogh at work.

For some time, Gauguin and Van Gogh worked fruitfully together, but more and more often creative differences arose between them. Paul Gauguin believed that the artist should fantasize more in creating his works, while Vincent was an adherent of working with nature. Gauguin wrote: “I feel like a complete stranger in Arles. Vincent and I rarely agree, especially when it comes to painting. He hates Ingres, Raphael and Degas, whom I admire. To put an end to the arguments, I tell him, "You're right, General." He really likes my paintings, but when I work on them, he constantly points me to one or the other shortcoming. He is a romantic, but I like primitives.

"Self-portrait with cut off ear and pipe" Van Gogh wrote after a quarrel with Gauguin

In total, Gauguin spent two months in Arles. During quarrels, he often threatened Van Gogh with his departure. And on December 23, 1888, he decided to leave the yellow house and spend the night in a hotel. Vincent thought the artist had left. The next morning, all of Arles was seething with the news that Van Gogh had suffered a fit of insanity that night. The artist cut off the earlobe, wrapped it in a scarf and took it to brothel to give to a prostitute. Returning home, Van Gogh lost consciousness. In this state, he was found by the police, who were called by the inhabitants brothel. Vincent was taken to the city hospital, and Gauguin left without saying goodbye. More artists never met.

Work on " starry night». After the story with Gauguin, Van Gogh was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. Vincent agreed to stay in the monastery hospital for the mentally ill in Saint-Remy.

Unlike other patients, Van Gogh was not assigned to the clinic. After daily work, he could leave the monastery walls, could return to his cell. He was under such supervision as was deemed necessary, and as independent as possible; and Van Gogh believed that the treatment would help him. The low wall that surrounded the monastery remained for many weeks in his imagination a boundary that he could not cross. Striving for recovery, the voluntary patient remained within limits that were not binding on him. He wanted to find safety and protection. Gradually he became interested surrounding landscape, carried away by cypress trees, olive groves and rare vegetation on the hills. The motives surrounding the artist already possessed that strange originality, that dark, demonic side, to which his art more and more aspired.

During his stay in the monastery, Van Gogh in June 1889 painted the painting "Starry Night", fantasizing this plot. Perhaps the influence of Gauguin, who believed that one should work more with imagination than with nature, affected here. The artist looks with an imaginary high point down the village. To her left, a cypress rushes into the sky, to her right an olive grove crowds, shaped like a cloud, and waves of mountains run towards the horizon. The manner in which Vincent interprets these newly found motifs evokes associations with fire, fog, and the sea, and elemental force nature connects with the immaterial cosmic drama of the stars. The eternal spontaneity of the Universe at the same time idyllically cradles a man's dwelling and threatens him. The village itself could be anywhere: it could be Saint-Remy or Nuenen at night. The spire of the church seems to reach for the elements, being both an antenna and a beacon, it resembles the Eiffel Tower (whose passion was always reflected in Van Gogh's night landscapes). Together with the vault of heaven, the details of the landscape sing of the miracle of creation.

Another night landscape Van Gogh - Cafe Terrace at Night

“I painted a landscape with olives and a new study of the starry sky,” Van Gogh wrote about this picture to his brother Theo, “and although I have not seen the last paintings of Gauguin and Bernard, I am deeply convinced that the two studies mentioned are written in the same spirit. When these two studies have been before your eyes for some time, you will get from them a much more complete idea of ​​the things that we discussed with Gauguin and Bernard, and which occupy us, than from my letters. This is not a return to romanticism or religious ideas, no. It is through Delacroix, that is, with the help of color and design, more arbitrary than illusory precision, that rural nature can be expressed sooner than it seems.

Features of the picture. Starry Night was not Van Gogh's first attempt at depicting the night sky. A year earlier, in Arles, the artist painted the painting Starry Night over the Rhone. Night scenes attracted the master, he often worked in the dark, attaching candles to his hat, as the old masters did.

Now the painting "Starry night over the Rhone" is stored in Paris

Van Gogh wrote to Theo that he often thinks about the stars: “Whenever I see the stars, I begin to dream - just as involuntarily as I dream, looking at the black dots that geographical map cities are marked. Why, I ask myself, should the bright dots in the sky be less accessible to us than the black dots on the map of France? Just as we are driven by a train when we go to Rouen or Tarascon, death takes us to the stars. However, in this reasoning, only one thing is indisputable: while we live, we cannot go to a star, just as, having died, we cannot board a train. It is probable that cholera, syphilis, consumption, cancer are nothing but celestial means of transportation, playing the same role as steamboats, omnibuses, and trains on earth. BUT natural death from old age is tantamount to walking.” While working on Starry Night, the artist wrote that he still needs religion, which is why he paints stars.

There are many interpretations of the Starry Night painting. Some even note that it accurately conveys the position of the stars in the June night sky in 1889. And this is quite likely. But the winding spiral lines have nothing to do with the northern lights, milky way, some kind of spiral nebula or something like that. According to other interpretations, Van Gogh painted his own Garden of Gethsemane. As proof of this assumption, there is a discussion about Christ in the Garden of Gethsman, which Van Gogh at that time was in correspondence with the artists Gauguin and Bernard. This is also possible. It is also possible that this picture also reflects the forebodings and mental suffering of the painter himself. But biblical allegories run through all the works of Van Gogh, and he did not need a special plot for this. Rather, it was a desire for a synthesis in which scientific, philosophical and personal ideas were compared. "Starry Night" is an attempt to convey a state of shock, shock, and cypresses, olives and mountains served only as a catalyst. Then Van Gogh was more than ever interested in the material essence of his subjects, as well as their symbolic meaning.

It is noteworthy that many scientists in Van Gogh's paintings reflect natural phenomena. Facts about how it works Dutch artist help researchers, collected in her material "Komsomolskaya Pravda".

The original of the painting "Starry Night" (oil on canvas 73.7x92.1) is kept in New York at the Museum contemporary art. The work moved there in 1941 from a private collection.

USEFUL

Which Russian museums have Van Gogh masterpieces

Paintings by Vincent van Gogh can be seen in Moscow and St. Petersburg. So, in the Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, “Red Vineyards in Arles”, “Sea in Sainte-Marie”, “Portrait of Dr. Felix Rey”, “Walk of Prisoners” and “Landscape in Auvers after the rain” are kept. And in the Hermitage there are four works by the famous Dutchman: “Memories of a Garden in Etten (Ladies of Arles)”, “Arles Arena”, “Bush”, “Huts”.

The painting "Red Vineyards" is one of the few works by Van Gogh that was bought during the life of the artist

The material uses data from the book “Van Gogh. complete collection compositions” by Ingo F. Walter and Rainer Metzger.

One of the most famous paintings- "Starry Night" by Van Gogh - currently located in one of the halls of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It was founded in 1889 and is one of the most famous works great artist.

History of the painting

"Starry Night" is one of the most famous and popular works pictorial Art XIX century. The painting was painted in 1889 and it perfectly conveys the unique and inimitable style of the greatest

In 1888, Vincent van Gogh was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy after being attacked by Paul and having his earlobe cut off. This year great artist lived in France, in the town of Arles. After the inhabitants of this city appealed to the mayor's office with a collective complaint about the "violent" painter, Vincent van Gogh ended up in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, a village for the year of residence in this place, the artist painted more than 150 paintings, including this one famous masterpiece visual arts.

Starry Night, Van Gogh. Description of the picture

A distinctive feature of the picture is the incredible dynamism, which eloquently conveys the emotional experiences of the great artist. Images in the moonlight at that time had their own ancient traditions, and yet no artist could convey such strength and power. natural phenomenon like Vincent van Gogh. "Starry Night" is not written spontaneously, like many of the master's works, it is carefully thought out and arranged.

The incredible energy of the whole picture is concentrated mainly in the symmetrical, unified and continuous movement of the crescent of the moon, stars and the sky itself. Overwhelming inner experiences are wonderfully balanced by the trees depicted in the foreground, which, in turn, balance the entire panorama.

Painting style

It is worth paying utmost attention to the surprisingly synchronized movement of heavenly bodies in the night sky. Vincent van Gogh deliberately depicted the stars greatly enlarged in order to convey the flickering light of the entire halo. The light from the moon also looks pulsating, and the spiral swirls are very harmonious in conveying the stylized image of the galaxy.

All the riot of the night sky is balanced, thanks to the image depicted in dark color the landscape of the city and the cypress trees that frame the picture from below. Night city and trees effectively complement the panorama of the night sky, giving it a feeling of heaviness and gravity. Special meaning has a village depicted in the lower right corner of the picture. He seems serenely calm in relation to the dynamic firmament.

Of no small importance is the color scheme of the painting "Starry Night" by Van Gogh. Lighter shades blend harmoniously with the dark foreground. And the special technique of drawing with strokes of various lengths and directions makes this picture more expressive compared to the previous works of this artist.

Reflections on the painting "Starry Night" and the work of Van Gogh

Like many masterpieces, Van Gogh's Starry Night almost immediately became fertile ground for all sorts of interpretations and discussions. Astronomers began to count the stars depicted in the picture, trying to determine which constellation they belong to. Geographers unsuccessfully tried to find out what kind of city is depicted at the bottom of the work. However, the fruits of research of neither one nor the other were not crowned with success.

It is only known for certain that, drawing "Starry Night", Vincent deviated from the usual manner of writing from nature.

Another interesting fact is that the creation of this picture, according to scientists and researchers, was influenced by the ancient legend of Joseph from the Old Testament. Although the artist was not considered a fan of theological teachings, the theme of eleven stars appears eloquently in Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Many years have passed since the great artist created this painting, and a programmer from Greece has created an interactive version of this masterpiece of painting. Thanks to a special technology, you can control the flow of paints with your fingertips. The spectacle is amazing!

Vincent Van Gogh. Painting "Starry night". Does it have a hidden meaning?

Books and songs are written about this picture, it is also in electronic publications. And, perhaps, it is difficult to find a more expressive artist than Vincent van Gogh. The painting "Starry Night" is the clearest proof of this. fine art still inspires poets, musicians and other artists to create unique works.

Until now, there was no consensus about this picture. Whether the disease affected her writing, whether there is some hidden meaning in this work - the current generation can only guess about it. It is possible that this is just a picture that the inflamed mind of the artist saw. However, this is a completely different world, accessible only to the eyes of Vincent van Gogh.

Original painting by Vincent van Gogh Starry Night. Description, photo, history, year of writing, dimensions, analysis, where it is located.

Starry Night is an 1889 oil on canvas painting by the Dutch Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Its size: 92 cm x 73 cm. To date, the painting is in the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, USA. However, she often "travels" and is regularly exhibited in various museums in Europe.

This painting is one of Van Gogh's most famous and beloved masterpieces. The picture is immediately recognizable, it inspires poets, directors, musicians, designers and artists. Her writing style is absolutely unique.

Vincent van Gogh created The Starry Night in June 1889 when he was admitted to the hospital at the monastery of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, where he stayed long enough for psychiatric treatment. At that time the artist was spontaneous and unpredictable.

In his letters to his brother, Van Gogh wrote: “... I like to do something difficult. But even this does not help me not to feel my great need for religion and preaching, so I go out at night to paint the stars.

The artist was cramped within the framework of our world. The picture is an idealized landscape, more vivid and non-standard. Powerful celestial whirlwinds, stars and a crescent-shaped moon, in the picture, move, in one undulating motion, over a small town. On the right is an olive grove and hills, on the left is a cypress, striving into the sky, like a flame. “... we use death to travel to the stars,” the artist wrote. Despite the fact that the picture absorbed the state of hopelessness experienced by the artist at the time of its writing, the composition of the picture was not chosen spontaneously, but rather carefully. Trees frame the starry sky and bring balance to the composition.

Eleven stars in the picture is a separate topic of discussion. It is likely that the biblical story of Joseph influences the composition. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down before me” (Genesis 37:9).

Thirteen months after painting Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh committed suicide.

Despite (or perhaps because of) all interpretations and hidden meanings, the painting remains one of the most important works of art of the 19th century.