Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh Artist Biography Grade: 2 Activity: Arizona Starry Night Key Words: Movement Line Expressionism Meet the Artist: Born in 1853 in The Netherlands. He taught as a school teacher in England. Afterwards, he became an art dealer. After that period of time, he moved to France and painted or drew 2000 works of art in the next 10 years of his life. His life is very celebrated and has many myths involved in it. His closest friend and relative was his brother Theo, who also supported him financially. He spent his life is poverty, choosing to paint than to have the money to eat. While he was strongly influenced by the impressionists of the day, he became much bolder in his paintings. He was a pioneer for expressionism. Expressionists profoundly show their emotions through their paintings. His other close friend while living in Paris was another artist of the day, Paul Gauguin. It was after an argument with Gauguin, that Van Gogh pursued him with a razor in hand. After realizing what he was trying to do, he ran home and cut off the lobe of one of his ears. He then gave it to a woman friend of his. Van Gogh never felt that his art was appreciated, which pained him very much. It wasn’t entirely true; many of his fellow painters saw him as a genius. He was a prolific painter and in the end, painted a painting a day. However, he only sold 1 painting in his lifetime. He eventually committed himself to a hospital to get help. Although never confirmed, it was rumored that he had anything from paint poisoning, manic depression to malnutrition. It was from this hospital that many of his paintings were painted, including Starry Night. Eventually his depression overtook him. In 1869, he shot himself in the stomach and refused treatment. He died 2 days later in his brother’s arms. Afterwards, his brother died 6 months later. It was Theo’s wife that made sure that Vincent Van Gogh got the attention he deserved in his lifetime. His paintings are some of the most expensive in the world to buy.

About the Art: Possible Questions: The painting features a scene of a Dutch-looking town. It is mainly composed of stars ablaze in their own luminescence, picturesque town structures, and a bright crescent moon. The painting is exaggerated, as stated by van Gogh himself. It is like a replica of a beautiful night. A viewer might imagine himself in the scene, observing the night in peace and amazement. The night sky keeps the viewer’s eyes moving about the painting while following the curves and creating a dot pattern caused by its swirly pattern. There are rolling hills that generate an aura of serenity from the town structures. The silent yet bright and fiery dark shades from the window of the structures could spark a viewer’s curiosity of the wonderful dark and starry skies. A mysterious entity is then shown in the left of the portrait. It can be interpreted in different ways depending on who is viewing it. It creates a visual similarity from its pattern with the night sky. This similarity creates a sensation of depth in the artwork. Possible Questions: What are the colors that you see? Are they mostly cool colors or warm? What do the swirling lines remind you of? What do they represent? What is the dark image in the middle of the painting? When was it painted? Is Starry Night a good title? Would you want it in your room? How do you think Van Gogh felt when he painted it? What is he expressing?