Masterpiece: Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh



Masterpiece: Starry Night, 1889

by Vincent van Gogh

Pronounced: ‘Goph’ or ‘Go’

Keywords: Line Movement, Expressionism

Grade: 3rd Grade

Month: December/January

Activity: Starry Arizona Night, Crayon Resist

Meet the Artist:

• Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853 in Holland and raised in a religious and cultured family. His father was a protestant preacher and he had three sisters and two brothers.

• Specifics about his childhood are not known other than he was a quiet and shy child with little or no attention spent on art or having artistic qualities.

• At age 16 he was employed by a large, French art dealer in The Hague; was transferred to the London gallery at age 19, then to the Paris gallery at age 21. After this relocation, he lost all desire to become a professional art dealer and decided to devote his life to preaching religious beliefs to the poor. He returned to Holland to studied theology but dropped out after one year.

• He moved to a dreary mining district in Belgium and became a layman preacher but was dismissed after 6 months due to his obsessive concern for the miners and their families.

• He remained in Belgium to briefly study art and during this time, he focused on painting peasants and rural scenes using dark colors and depressing settings. Here he created his first period piece called “The Potato Eaters” (1885). Show artwork and discuss the darkness of color and overall feeling of the people and space.

• In 1886, he again moved to Paris, France to live with his beloved brother, Theo, and study art. Theo was extremely influential in Vincent’s life and supported him emotionally and financially.

• While in Paris, he met other famous Impressionist artists such as Pissarro, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Gauguin and began to lighten his dark paint palette and use the short, quick brushstrokes that are typical of Impressionistic artists. While he was strongly influenced by these artists, he became much bolder in his paintings using bolder colors and stronger brush strokes. And although he is considered a Post-Impressionist (like Toulouse-Lautrec), he set the principles of the Expressionist movement by showing his emotions in his paintings.

• During his short residence in Paris from 1886 to 1888, many of his fellow painters saw him as a genius and he finally became confident with his personal style of art but he also became noticeably more irritable and nervous in keeping up with the expectations of being an artist.

• After two, intense years in Paris, van Gogh moved to a small rural town in France where he focused his subject matter on the natural landscape. He hoped to open his own art colony with another Paris artist and close friend, Paul Gauguin. However, after an argument with Gauguin, Van Gogh suffered a mental breakdown and pursued him with an open razor in hand. After realizing what he was trying to do, he ran home and cut off the lobe of his left ear, which he gave to a woman friend.

• Towards the end of 1888, Van Gogh’s fits of mental illness began to take hold and were occurring more frequently. He suffered from various types of epilepsy, psychotic attacks, and delusions so he checked himself into an asylum for treatment.

• At the asylum, his paintings became a torrent of activity. Although he could not draw and paint for long periods of time without suffering from an attack, he managed to create “The Starry Night” (1889) which is his most popular work and one of the most influence pieces in history.

• After he left the asylum, he painted a painting a day.

• In a short period of ten years, between 1881 and 1890, he created approximately 900 paintings. He only sold 1 painting in his lifetime; “The Red Vineyard” (1888).

• Eventually his depression overtook him and after a fit of painting activity, at the age of 37, he shot himself in the chest and refused treatment. He died 2 days later in his brother, Theo’s, arms. Theo died 6 months later.

• After Vincent’s death, Theo’s wife made sure that Vincent Van Gogh got the attention he deserved in his lifetime. His paintings are some of the most expensive in the world to buy.

Possible Questions:

• What are the dominant colors you see? Are they cool or warm colors; primary, secondary?

• Where are the dominant lines? How do these lines flow?

• What do you think these lines represent for the artist? The swirling lines of the sky are a possible representation of van Gogh’s mental state. This same shaken style is visible in all of his work during his time in the asylum.

• What do these lines represent for you as the viewer? Maybe wind movement or clouds?

• What do you think is the dark image in the middle of the painting?

• Why do you think the moon and stars are so yellow or bright? One of van Gogh's physicians was thought to have treated his epilepsy with a prescription drug that can cause one to see in yellow or see yellow spots. This may have been one of the reasons why Van Gogh used this color so often in his later paintings. Another theory is he suffered from lead poisoning which causes swelling of the retinas and to see light in circles like halos around objects.

• Do you think “Starry Night” a good title? What would you name it?

Activity: Starry Arizona Night

Materials needed: 9”x12” white construction paper, crayons (make sure there is white), blue tempera paint (slightly diluted with water), 1” paint brushes, bowls for diluted paint, student’s own pencils, mats to cover desks.

1. Pass out to each student the mats to cover their desks, construction paper and crayons. At each workstation place the bowls with diluted blue paint and 3-4 brushes to share.

2. Have the students image they are hovering above the Arizona landscape late at night. What season is it? What part of the state are they in? Brainstorm with them about the images they would see (i.e. clear, windy or cloudy skies, bright moon and stars, textured mountains, water and reflections, snow, monsoon conditions with lightning, pine trees or cactus, canyons, nocturnal animals, night flying creatures, city lights, traffic). Write on board.

3. Lightly sketch their general scene with pencils.

4. Using the crayons, draw more detailed images into a scene of their starry Arizona night and landscape.

5. Stress to the students to press hard with the crayons and to use strong but quick lines to show movement and emotion; like you see in Van Gogh’s painting. Have them try to fill the page with their image. Have them name and sign it on the back.

6. When finished with their crayon image, have student paint over scene, using a light coat of diluted blue paint to accentuate darkness, texture and mood.

Photograph and Self Portrait of Vincent van Gogh and other Paintings

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Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1888

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The Potato Eaters, 1885

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The Red Vineyard, 1888

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The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, 1888

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Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers, Arles, 1888

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Irises, 1889

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Starry Night in Pen and Ink

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