4.  Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the Netherlands  He was a teacher in England, then he moved on to become a preacher  He decided to become an artist at the age of 27 in 1880  He taught himself to draw and paint, and received financial support from his younger brother.

5.  Vincent Van Gogh had mental health problems and spent time in psychiatric hospitals  Van Gogh’s artwork was inspired by the colors and countryside around him.  While suffering from depression in July of 1890 Van Gogh shot himself, and died two days later.

6.  The Starry Night is one of Vincent Van Gogh’s most famous paintings. The painting shows a night view outside Van Gogh’s sanitarium room at Saint Remy- de-Provence. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941. It is one of Vincent Van Gogh's most sought after pieces.

7.  People can relate to this scene, because it is so simple  Exaggerated features and swirls keep the viewers eyes moving, which keeps them interested  There is a peaceful town below the bright night sky  The excitement of the sky and the calmness of the town creates a balance  Van Gogh used a mix of cool dark colors and white to portray drama and movement throughout the painting  The dark object to the left of the painting is a mystery  It gives the viewer a chance to really think about the scene and truly interpret the painting

8.  Van Gogh was fascinated with light, and night.  He wrote to his brother in 1888 "It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colored than the day”  Van Gogh was known as the audacious, crazy, passionate painter which explains his exaggeration in many of his paintings.  Many people believe that poems by Whitman inspired Van Gogh. They believe that the painting is Whitman's poems in visual form.