The Starry Night, an oil painting created by Vincent van Gogh in June 1889, features an impressionistic view out the window of the psychiatric hospital where he voluntarily stayed for nearly a year after suffering a mental breakdown. Vincent van Gogh’s art was not commercially successful in his lifetime, but his works today now bring million of dollars at art auctions around the world.
DIRECTIONS:
1.) Spend a quiet minute or two looking at the artwork. Then, describe what you see. What part stands out the most?
2.) Write two adjectives that describe the feeling, mood, or atmosphere created in this painting.
3.) Choose a color or element that catches your eye and explain a symbolic meaning that item/element could hold.
4.) Thinking about the subject matter, mood, and symbolic element/s you’ve noticed, what’s a reasonable message this painting delivers to the viewer?
5.) This painting was created from a viewpoint of a person looking down at a village in the distance. How does this perspective impact the message of the painting?
6.) If you were asked by Vincent van Gogh’s representative to give this painting a new name, what name would you choose? Explain your reasoning.
The image is attached below.
