I chose to write about Van Gogh’s Starry Night, because I think that this painting is one of the greater pioneer forms of abstract art. Van Gogh’s rendering of the world the way that he perceived it, blended with his own stigmatic emotion, is evidenced by his abstract depiction of this small village in the south of France in 1889; Starry Night is aesthetically, artistically, and technically unique.
Starry night is a depiction of an actual village that Van Gogh visited during his lifetime. At the risk of merely defining the obvious, the fact that this is a depiction of an actual village evidences the portrayal of real, naturally occurring forms within his painting – forms that any person who has observed this painting, can attest are definitely a distorted rendition. The distortion of these forms is a demonstration of the type of art that would be later defined as abstract, a descriptive of art in which the forms of the visual world are purposefully simplified, fragmented, or otherwise distorted.
Having said that, one of the first distinct feature representations of abstraction in this painting that I noticed was the peculiar way that Van Gogh painted the stars - Van Gogh’s stars are exaggerated to the point that their size is almost equitant to most conventional depictions of our sun; this is an obvious demonstration of his use of forms of the visual world which he purposefully distorted (perhaps to signify the residence of spirits on each star).
The second, most striking demonstration of the use of abstraction in this painting is Van Gogh’s simplification of the form of the elements of the scene – the stars, buildings, the mountains, the trees, etc. Van Gogh’s signature stylistic use of brush strokes is extremely simple. Consequently, nothing in the depiction of this small village is given much detail. The original Starry Night painted is insured for at least $100 million. It is currently owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It was acquired by them in 1941.
This painting reminds me of many things that deal with me as a person. When I look at this painting it reminds me of how I am. I am one who is poetic. I am one who is simple yet unique. I am one that loves beauty. I am one who is a perfectionist. I am one who stares in the sky admiring that night stars. I am one who is stylish. I am one who is real. I am one that is natural. I am one who is artistic. I am one who is technical. These traits I see in myself when I look at this painting.