Steven Mendoza
Ms. Cheng
English II
11 September 2014
Starry Night Painting Analysis
Van Gogh creates a hopeful tone in this famous painting by using the bright colors to outshine the dark colors to create a sense of hope.
In the painting the village below consists of dark colors such as blue and black. Similarly this is also true for the environment, the hill and the night sky, which also seems to have the same types of dark colors in them. These dark colors could be used to represent sadness or suffering in life. However these items seem to be brightened up by something else in the painting.
In contrast to the dark colors the stars in the sky consist of bright colors such as yellow and white. These colors make the stars shine bright and lights up everything in else in the painting. It is because of the colors that the painting really stands out and doesn’t seem as dark as it would be without the stars. The bright colors could be used to represent hope in the painting.
Van Gogh probably uses this painting to describe how he was really feeling during his life. He dealt with a lot of sickness, suffering, and rejection throughout his life and art career, but a small part of him could have still had hope that his life would eventually get better. The brightness in the picture reveals that you can find hope in the darkest moments of a person’s life.