WHAT INSPIRED VINCENT VAN GOGH TO PAINT STARRY NIGHT?
A brief essay by Robert L. Huffstutter
Sometimes I wonder what was in Vincent Van Gogh's mind when he began a painting.
Surely, others have pondered this same question, or do others simply look at it and marvel. To be honest, most people are prone to marvel and go on about their business. One reason why there are less who question Vincent's purpose is that the world is not populated by a majority of artists. Oh', yes we are all artist in our own way, we all have something to contribute to art, but as far as oil painters who ponder subject matter, the percentage of the population is nowhere near what it might be for those who are sports fans. We are not all supposed to be artists. But most of us like art.
What was Vincent thinking when he painted Starry Night?
Imagine Vincent standing before his blank canvas. Was he inside or outside? Was he doing this outside and looking up at the universe?
There might be research that has been done about this specific work and his mood; if there is, I am not aware of this material. There is much to find out about Van Gogh that will never be revealed.
Let us assume Vincent stood outside for a great length of time on the night he began Starry Night. As he looked into the universe he must have wondered about his purpose, but only before he began the painting. Vincent's love for painting surpassed all other subjects. He had no self-pity while painting, he was inside the painting as much the same way he was in the world or inside his room.
Nothing else mattered to Vincent Van Gogh as he applied brush strokes of various widths and patterns. His mind whirled about as he painted; one color or another color, nothing definite but what appeared on his canvas. His brush and his mind were connected like nerves are connected to our every inch of flesh and bone. Vincent Van Gogh, lost in the universe he was painting; the stars he saw that night were exactly as he painted them. No news reports from any French publications will confirm this, no, but it does not matter. It did not matter to the world then, those who were seeing stars as they peered into the heavens.
What they saw was different, less glorious, less surrealist, but that is fine. Can you imagine a million French paintings similar to Vincent's, all painted around the same date. We would have certainly looked for records of comets that might have streamed overhead.
Has anyone ever searched to see what the skies were like during this period?
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