Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night

With loneliness and depression, Van Gogh lived in an asylum for the rest of his life trying to find his peace. Toward the end of 1888, he had suffered from "various types of epilepsy, psychotic attacks, and delusions"(Vincent van Gogh: Later years). Even so, Van Gogh still persisted in finishing his artwork, The Starry Night in the condition of physical pain and mental disorders. Even though Van Gogh did not stop painting and created many art pieces during the time in asylum, he still viewed his art as a failure that no one would truly understood and appreciated. The feeling of loneliness surrounds him all the time which also expresses in many other of his paintings. Disappointed his own life, Van Gogh finally decided to suicide by shooting

The elements of composition conveyed in The Starry Night leading the viewers to a path toward Van Gogh's real world. These are important because "they help give structure to the layout of the painting and the way the subject is presented"(Evans). All parts of the composition are successfully united by utilizing the line. Every element suits the place where it belongs and makes it comfortable to the viewers. The use of cool colors not only calm the picture, but also create the sense of balance. The dominant use of blue color in the painting is balanced by the cool colors in the night sky. In the meantime, the darkness of the village is also comforted by the bright lights through the windows. The sharp, growing three present with perpendicular lines break into the circular shapes of the stars. Comparing to the quiet and the peaceful of the village, the above sky is extremely dramatic. The use of bright yellow, white colors draw the view's attention and increase the contrast with the dark night. The focal point in this painting is the swirling of the sky where the viewer's eyes ultimately want to focus on. The brightest colors and the heaviest texture of the entire image are applied to the sky to capture viewer's