Archive for the 'Starry Night over the Rhone' Category

More about "Starry Night Over the Rhone"

Starry Night over the Rhone taken from Vincent Van Gogh — The Complete Works on CDRom

This morning I took an excerpt from a book that discussed Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, and also mentioned another “Starry Night” that Vincent painted a little later. According to Vincent Van Gogh — The Complete Works on CDRom, “The Starry Night over the Rhone” was actually painted BEFORE “Starry Night”. in September of 1888. I’m not sure which painting the book was referring to, but if I find out, I will be posting it later on.

“The Starry Night Over the Rhone”is currently at Musée d’Orsay, in Paris, France.
There are several different letters found in The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh that refer to “The Starry Night Over the Rhone”:
In Letter 552, Vincent writes to Theo of a “The Starry Night” canvas he has started that week. According to “The Complete Works on CDRom”, it is referring to “The Starry Night Over the Rhone”.

Also, in letter 547, Vincent discusses a “Starry Night”, that is supposed to be “The Starry Night Over the Rhone”.

Vincent calls it “Starry Sky”, in letter 546 to his brother Theo, calling it one of his “big studies”.

Letter 545 also talks of “The Starry Sky”.

The most descript Vincent was about this painting in a letter, was probably letter 543 to his brother Theo, saying:

“Enclosed a little sketch of a square size 30 canvas, the starry sky actually painted at night under a gas jet. The sky is greenish-blue, the water royal blue, the ground mauve. The town is blue and violet, the gas is yellow and the reflections are russet-gold down to greenish-bronze. On the blue-green expanse of the sky the Great Bear sparkles green and pink, its discreet pallor contrasts with the harsh gold of the gas.
Two colorful little figures of lovers in the foreground” (van Gogh, 1888).

I wasn’t sure what “The Great Bear” was that Vincent was talking about, but according to http://www.souledout.org/nightsky/ursamajorandminor.html, it is also known more commonly as The Big Dipper. Sure enough, Vincent painted the big dipper in “The Starry Night Over the Rhone”.

November 02 2006 | Art and Letters of van Gogh and Painting and Starry Night over the Rhone and The Big Dipper and The Great Bear | No Comments »

Anne Sexton (1928-1974) — The Starry Night (1961)

Starry Night taken from Vincent Van Gogh — The Complete Works on CDRom

That does not keep me from having a terrible need of — shall I say the word — religion.

Then I go out at night to paint the stars.

— Vincent van Gogh in a letter to his brother

Anne Sexton (1928-1974)

The Starry Night 1961

The town does not exist

except where one black-haired tree slips

up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.

The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars

Oh starry starry night! This is how

I want to die

It moves. They are all alive.

Even the moon bulges in its orange irons

to push children, like a god from its eye.

The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars.

Oh starry starry night! This is how

I want to die:

into that rushing beast of the night,

sucked up by that great dragon, to split

form my life with no flag,

no belly,

no cry.

Questions for Looking Deeper

1. In what ways does your reaction to the painting agree with Sexton’s? In what ways does it differ? Does her poem open your eyes to elements of the painting you had not initially seen? Explain.

2. The first two stanzas of the poem end with the refrain “This is how/I want to die.” What does “This” refer to? In what sense might The Starry Night be described as a painting about death?

3. Around the time of this painting, van Gogh was much preoccupied with cypress trees. He wrote his brother, “The tree is as beautiful of line and proportion as an Egyption obelisk. And the green has such a quality of distinction. It is a splash of black in a sunny landscape, but it is one of the most interesting black notes, and the most difficult to hit off exactly that I can imagine.” How does Sexton’s reference to the cypress tree in the opening lines of her poem relate to her overall reading of the painting?

4. Describe the difference in brush strokes van Gogh uses for the sky and those he uses for the village. How does this difference relate to the paintings theme?

5. The Starry Night was painted in a town of Saint-Remy. Later the same year, van Gogh did another painting, this one in the town of Arles, to which he gave the same title. Look up this later painting and compare the differences in the painter’s handling of light, both natural and artificial.

6. Some of van Gogh’s paintings have been described as mystical. Which of these two paintings does the term best fit? Explain. What similarities and differences do you find between the depiction of the village and the sky in the two works?

The only other “Starry Night” Painting that I assume this text is referring to, would be “The Starry Night over the Rhone”, as shown below.

Starry Night over the Rhone taken from Vincent Van Gogh — The Complete Works on CDRom

References

Abcarian, R., & Klotz, M. (2004). Literature: The human experience (shorter 8th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s

November 01 2006 | Anne Sexton and Starry Night over the Rhone and The Starry Night | 1 Comment »