A Color Commentary on The Starry Night

This article was submitted in response to May 2018’s Your Turn prompt.

Painted in 1889 by Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night is one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Western culture.

When I was thinking of color and art, my mind immediately thought of The Starry Night.

The Starry Night has a beautiful color combination that blends well and is appealing to one’s eye.

It has different shades of blue that makes the sky look more realistic than how it would be with one single shade of blue. It feels as if I am in the painting and am on a mountain or hill, so I could see upon the village below. You can see that Vincent van Gogh was trying to make the background look as if there was a strong breeze.

The color of the moon doesn’t contrast with the sky’s color. It goes well together which makes the entire painting more beautiful. The colors in the painting are slightly dimmed to represent the light of the moon shining down on the town at night. The rolls of the hills, clouds, and sky make the picture easy on the eyes and invites the viewer into the painting. It makes me feel as though I could roll with the clouds and look down below at the town. I think there should be many more stars to make it a starry night.

I also think that an actual tree doesn’t have so many smooth curved branches. It should be a bit more angular.

I like how van Gogh included all the small details, like the windows on the houses and the aura surrounding every star. The color of the tree contrasts with the wind in the sky, but without that contrast, the painting wouldn’t be as good-looking as it is now. Sometimes contrasts in color can be good and make the image, painting, or movie more nice looking.

With these wonderful color contrasts, the blending of colors together, and with the detail and fine work that Vincent van Gogh put into this, The Starry Night is a beautiful painting.

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Varun Mukund is a seventh grader from Texas