Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 13

Art History - Essay Example Van Gogh has preference of painting outdoors coupled with the fascination of the night sky as part of the favourite subjects. One outstanding element of the painting ‘Starry Night over the Rhone’ is gas lighting that reflect off the elements of water through several strolls nearby. All this is neatly done in the painting’s foreground. The work is a revelation of the sky’s marvellous colours coupled with the scene’s reflections as well as the striking contrast of the artificial stars and the gas natural beauty lights. Street lanterns across the edge of the Rhone in the watershed provide sufficient lighting enabling Van Gogh fully to paint from observation direct. Van Gogh manipulated such reality into certain levels as a way of creating an impressive firmament. Through this view, the Arles town lay in the southwest while the Great Bear constellation painted within the sky is in the north. The media used by the artist include oil on canvas as well as the technique of weeping and broad brush strokes. In various letters to Wilhelmina, his sister, Gogh observed that this was aimed at painting starry sky. The display appears to be that the night is still richly coloured as compared to the day. It has hues from the intense greens, violets, and blues. If one pays attention to the painting, it is easy to see that a number of stars are lemon-yellow while others are blue or pink and green brilliance. Without expatiating on the theme, it becomes clearer that the little white dots put on blue-black are not sufficient in painting starry skies. Some hold the belief that there are hidden images that depict the Gate to Heaven while two coffins in its front seem relevant to his religious foundations. Van Gogh engaged the expressive and symbolic colour values to express emotions within the scope of reproduction for visual light, atmosphere, or appearances. Van Gogh also went on to paint the night sky immensely hanging on