staris art

For this paper, you will combine the lessons in this course to analyze a work of art using formal and sociocultural methods of analysis. You will look at a work of art and carefully describe the use of the elements of composition and principles of design. Then, you will research the work of art and discuss how the work of art was interpreted by the original audience.

1. Step 1: Week 3 - Paper Proposal: After visiting the art museums on Google Arts and Culture, identify a work of art that catches your eye and that you would like to learn more about during this course. Your selection should be a painting, print, photograph, or sculpture. Record the identification information for the work you select (artist, title, date, medium, and museum collection).

2. Step 2: Week 5 - Annotated Bibliography: Explore the resources at the Trefry Library to ensure you can find scholarly information about the work of art you selected. You might find it helpful to use the  Art and Film Research Guide. If you need help, remember you can use the “Ask a Librarian” chat the top of the library’s webpage.

3. Step 3: Week 7 - Final Paper: You will write a formal essay that includes the following:

I. Introduction: this paragraph should identify the work of art you will analyze, introduce the purpose of your paper and include a thesis statement that presents the major point (argument) of your paper.

II. Formal/Visual Analysis: this section should incorporate the elements of composition and principles of design as you describe a work of art for your reader. Aim to discuss the work of art as though you are trying to paint a mental picture of the work.

III. Sociocultural Analysis: this section should consider how the work of art reflects the time period in which it was created.

IV. Conclusion: this paragraph should restate your thesis and be a summary of the major points you made in your paper.

V. Works Consulted and Works Cited: cite the resources you used to help you develop your ideas. You might use the  Trefry Library’s Citation Hub [Web Page] for help citing your sources.

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Paper Proposal: Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night (1889)

Staris Hinton

APUS

September 27, 2026

Paper Proposal: Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night (1889)

Full Identification

Artist: Vincent van Gogh

Title: The Starry Night

Date: June 1889

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 73.7 × 92.1 cm (29 × 36¼ in)

Collection: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

Link: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79802

Google Arts & Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-starry-night/uQE3XORhSK37Dw

Detailed Description

The Starry Night is an expansive nocturnal landscape that features a dramatic night sky covering more than two-thirds of the canvas. Bold swirls of dark ultramarine, cobalt, and Prussian blue strokes produce a series of waves that move rhythmically from one side to the other in the upper region of the picture, giving a feeling of dynamic action (Boime, 1984). The swirls make spirals and vortices that look like flowing waves, while glowing stars and crescent moon create concentric circles of light, which create high contrasts and attract the viewer’s attention.

A tall, dark cypress tree shoots up like a dark flame in the lower left corner, with its vertical shape slicing through the horizon of the sky and connecting the earth with the universe. The dense foliage on the cypress tree, painted in blackish-green using short, jagged strokes, helps create both the visual weight and the asymmetric balance with the lighter and looser village at the bottom (Soth, 1986). The village constitutes the lower third of the painting: a peaceful cluster of little geometric houses and the tall spire of a church painted in cool blues and soft yellows. The horizontal and diagonal lines formed by the curves of the hills and the rooftops contrast with the chaotic sky above to create a visual rhythm.

The impasto technique van Gogh uses is an effective means of creating depth and texture, while the use of complementary colors (blue and yellow) is aimed at increasing intensity. In terms of overall composition, there is an appeal to asymmetry, directional movement, and emphasis based on differences in light and darkness, size, and lines (Whitney, 1986). In this way, the picture looks both descriptive and prophetic, allowing one to perceive the night sky as a living entity.

References

Boime, A. (1984). Van Gogh’s Starry Night: A history of matter and a matter of history. Arts Magazine, 59(4), 86–103 https://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/learn/courses/Thomson_Van_Gogh_The_Starry_Night.pdf

Soth, L. (1986). Van Gogh’s agony. The Art Bulletin, 68(2), 301–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043079.1986.10788341

Whitney, C. A. (1986). The skies of Vincent van Gogh. Art History, 9(3), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8365.1986.tb00206.x

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Annotated Bibliography on Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night”

Staris Hinton

APUS

October 8, 2026

Abdulla, S. D., & Kamal, N. B. (2025). Van Gogh, Anne Sexton, and the mythological narrative of Apollo and Artemis in “The Starry Night.” Journal of Philology and Educational Sciences, 4(1), 18–28. https://doi.org/10.53898/jpes2025412

Abdulla and Kamal investigate The Starry Night from literary and semiotic perspectives. The authors examine how Van Gogh's painting and Anne Sexton's poem communicate the same symbol, and how the symbols are expressed in both the visual and the literary. They examine the way elements of Van Gogh's imagery reflect the Greek mythological characters of Apollo and Artemis, as well as how art can convey meaning beyond the literal. The authors explore the visual elements within the painting and how viewers make sense of them using semiotic concepts. This source will benefit my research as it will offer a different perspective from the scientific studies by focusing on symbolism, mythology, and interpretation. It shows the possibility of learning about The Starry Night not only through the way the artist used the brush or the way the picture is structured, but also by learning about the cultural and symbolic significance of the images. The article will enable me to gain a wider knowledge of why there are a number of interpretations of Van Gogh's painting.

Ma, Y., Cheng, W., Huang, S., Schmitt, F. G., Lin, X., & Huang, Y. (2024). Hidden turbulence in van Gogh’s The Starry Night. Physics of Fluids, 36(9), 095140. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0213627

Ma et al. examine the swirling patterns in Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night from a scientific perspective. The researchers study the unique whirling shapes and their spatial relationships in the painting to determine if they exhibit the properties of turbulence. They conclude that the sizes and distribution of the swirls have a scaling behavior similar to mathematical properties of turbulent flows. The authors' approach is important because it analyzes a well-known painting in a quantitative manner instead of only using historical or emotional interpretation. Their work offers a possible answer as to why the sky in The Starry Night seems to have so much action and energy. As a source, it is very valuable for my research since it offers scholarly evidence to analyze Van Gogh's brushwork and composition in a painting. It also illustrates how the concepts of science can be used to give one more perspective on the pictorial qualities of a painting.

Riley, J. J., Gad-el-Hak, M., Bourgault, D., & Chavanne, C. (2025). Is there hidden turbulence in Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night? Journal of Turbulence, 26(4), 113–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/14685248.2025.2477244

Riley et al. critically examine the argument that Van Gogh’s The Starry Night contains patterns that can be identified as turbulence. The authors comment on the interpretation provided by Ma et al. and wonder whether theories created to describe physical turbulence can be adequately applied to an artistic description. They discuss the methodological challenges of considering a painting as an actual representation of the flow of the air. The article is valuable as an example of how one can challenge and debate the interpretations of a piece of art that have been produced by scholars. This will be used as a contrasting source to Ma et al. (2024). Through both of these studies, I will be able to talk about the swirling sky from several angles and to understand that there are limitations to artistic techniques being discussed from a scientific point of view. The article is therefore an academic counterargument of one of the most recognizable characteristics of The Starry Night.

• Step 1: Initial observation and description
• Step 2: Sociocultural research
• Step 3: Interpretive analysis
• Step 4: Structuring your essay