The Starry Night’s Deep Dive Multimedia Project II

Dibboraj Biswas

Ms. Wang

Multimedia

3 March 2025

The Starry Night’s Deep Dive

The Starry Night, painted by the renowned Vincent van Gogh, has through its life

boomed in popularity. Being painted in 1889, it has proven to us that it is a timeless piece that, as

far as we can see, is not going anywhere any time soon. This is prevalent by how it has continued

to attract and bring attention to itself for over two centuries from all over the world. As it is

today, the painting is here in New York, which I found quite surprising. Infact, as it is, the

painting rests itself in the Museum of Modern Art. At face value, I really like the artist and

unique style of the painting that I have yet to be replicated in the timeless classic of the Starry

Night. Where the painting really stands out is the stars, moon, and clouds. The stars really bring

alive this painting and what the painter, Gogh. saw not only the city but possibly even his future.

The swirling clouds for me show leading line and how he moves your eyes from left to right. It is

in these swirls we see line as he really extricates the clouds. Moreover, lines can be seen

everywhere in this painting. This stylistic choice of doing this painting in this manner gives that

feeling you can not really replicate. It stamps from the sky to the background hills. Other than

the stars, two things the author wants you to view would be the large cypress tree, that in a way

works like rule of thirds in this painting. At the bottom center would be the church, which is not

only taller but lit up. The author wants you to look at the church and connect with him. The

impact these objects leave on the viewer is one that they will remember of the painting as they

are the subjects that are only outdone by the stars. The artist makes sure to have a dark color tone

on the village and the overall painting. This, however, is strongly contrasted by the stars. From

what I can see, the author uses the color combination being triadic. The strong blues and green,

as well as the yellow and even orange and red, all lead me to this conclusion. I really like how

the author used black in this painting to really help elevate the other parts of the painting.

Overall, the light really shows the passion the author had for the sky and what it held and the

wonders of it.

What makes this painting even more of an outstanding piece of work would be the

unknown neurological or psychiatric disorder Van Gogh was facing. I think that this painting

encapsulates what he felt having such an illness, as through this work it felt as if he gave in and

felt accomplished with his life. The Starry Night with all its lights in both sky and village shows

that there is always something to guide you and that spark of hope lingering. I love the message

of this painting and it really resonated with me and how I've been through my lows. I want to add

more of a generalized idea of the Starry Night being that it takes powerful emotions and uses

one’s imagination to drive and amplify it. Although I have detailed a summary of the painting,

there are many interpretations of the painting which still remain up to debate among experts.

Although there is no typography, that there is no writing, the painting makes it up by providing

many other forms of composition. Having said that, shape is amongst the most important things I

see in this painting. Through the use of distinct and visually appealing subjects, there is nothing

that feels of and through shape, we get that painting with all these layers. Texture in the form of

the lines really sells the idea of Van Gogh looking down and reflecting on his life and what he

saw of the world. I was really taken aback at how much I missed. Upon learning what we have in

multimedia class, I was shocked by the understanding and technique these artists really needed to

perfect their craft to provide us masterpieces such as this one. I am forever now in love with

taking paintings like this and dissecting their base layers for not only just me to understand but to

find what makes them great. Finally, I think that my love of the Starry Night will go out to other

masterpieces that I have yet to truly appreciate and respect for what they have made. The Starry

Night is simply amongst one of the millions of paintings that will not only reflect with me but

one that I will further deepen my love and appreciation for understanding the fundamentals of it

all.