Ensuring outstanding teaching in art & design Art academy Ensuring outstanding teaching in art & design

The art of Vincent van gogh Year 3 art & design

The Starry Night (1889)

The Starry Night (1889) This is one of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings. It is considered to be one of his finest works. He painted this view from his asylum window where he had admitted himself after having mutilated his left ear. The painting shows the night sky with twirling clouds and shining stars. What else can you see in the painting?

The Starry Night (1889) Van Gogh considered the painting a failure. He wrote to his brother, Theo, about the painting. “All in all the only things I consider a little good in it are the Wheatfield, the Mountain, the Orchard, the Olive trees with the blue hills and the Portrait and the Entrance to the quarry, and the rest says nothing to me.” To the left of the painting is dominated by the large Cyprus tree. This tree is normally associated with cemeteries. Thirteen months after painting this picture, Van Gogh died.

The Starry Night (1889) The dominant colour in the painting is blue. We can create different tones of a colour (hue) by adding amounts of either white or black. We create a tint by adding white We create a shade by adding black