The Starry Night
1889
The Starry Night is one of the most iconic and sought after works in the entire history of Western art, painted by Vincent van Gogh in June 1889 while he was residing at the Saint Paul de Mausole asylum in Saint Rémy de Provence. The swirling nocturnal sky, luminous celestial bodies, and bold impasto brushwork make this a supreme example of Post Impressionist mastery that collectors and institutions universally regard as a pinnacle of artistic achievement. Currently held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, this work exists as an irreplaceable cultural treasure whose influence on art, design, and popular culture remains immeasurable.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
Artists in conversation
Edvard Munch
Norwegian · b. 1863
Munch shared van Gogh's use of swirling, emotionally charged brushwork and vivid nocturnal skies, as seen in works like The Starry Night over the Oslofjord, and similarly channeled psychological anguish into landscape painting with bold expressive color and turbulent atmosphere.
Paul Gauguin
French · b. 1848
Gauguin was a direct Post Impressionist contemporary of van Gogh who employed similarly bold color fields, emotionally symbolic landscapes, and thick painterly surfaces that prioritized inner feeling over literal representation of nature and night scenes.
Egon Schiele
Austrian · b. 1890
Schiele carried forward van Gogh's raw emotional expressionism and intense impasto energy into figurative and landscape work, sharing the same urgency of mark making and the same biographical context of psychological intensity driving a deeply personal visual language.
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