Why is everyone obsessed with Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night?

Vincent Van Gogh was a painter that was born in Netherlands. Unfortunately, he was a man that suffered from mental illness and had committed suicide when he was 37 years old. But during those times was when he had produced a lot of artworks. And by a lot, we mean by 2100 artworks within 10 years of his lifetime.

Among all of those works, the number one painting that has been known to the wide world is a painting called, “the starry night”. It is such an iconic piece that even people from the non-art fields are very much familiar with. But what makes it so special? 

Brushstroke style
When one looks at this painting, they can’t help but to admit the obvious-vibrant-raging brushstrokes that make up this painting as a whole. And the most obvious part that these brushstrokes cover is the sky. It’s look of turbulence and harmony has such a strong pull that the viewer can easily pause and wonder about its beauty and even the technique that was involved in the process.

Painted from memory
Van Gogh is famous for paintings that involve landscapes and still lives which are results from his observational approach in completing them. But not Starry Night. It was fully painted based on his own memory. With the number of details included in this piece, it is amazing how Van Gogh could actually interpret his own reality in such an interesting and relatable way.  

Questions outside the asylum
This painting was created while he was in an asylum at Saint-Remy. With this fact, many can’t help but to question, is this the view of a man that’s mentally tortured? But how can it be so beautiful and not depressing? How does he have the ability to perform technical skills while he’s not in his right mind?

Questions after questions appear out of curiosity as the contradiction of this beautiful piece and his state of being was so in contrast and far apart. Some say that that was the very reason. Because of the other destructive thoughts he had on his mind, the Starry Night was his escape.   

It is a bridge between abstract and realism
Van Gogh was a post-impressionist painter which essentially means that he depicts his subject matters from real life objects but he has his own ways on elaborating them based on his interpretation. Therefore, the general public can still understand the subjects he’s trying to narrate about but interestingly enough, he has provided another realm for them to venture into.

And for the better part, nowadays we can also try to paint this very painting ourselves and try to understand Van Gogh’s perspective in handling this painting as how did it originally.

You could try and check out Starry Night by Van Gogh and share your own interpretations on how you see your Starry Night.