4º miriam & cristina starry night over the rhone

Starry Night Over the Rhone

Miriam and Cristina 4º ESO 1

Table of contents 1. Van Gogh’s biography………………………………………....3

2. Description and basic facts a. Formal analysis i. Basic facts………………………………………....4 ii. Objective description………………..………...…4

3. Formal qualities.…………….………………….………...……5

4. Judgement…………….………..……………………………….5 a. Cristina. b. Miriam.

5. Style…………………………………..………………………....6 6. Interpretation……………………….………………….………6

7. Context…..……………………………………………...………7 8. Bibliography……………….…………………………………8

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1. Biography.

Vincent Willem Van Gogh was born in the Netherlands on 30th March 1853. He was a dutch post impressionist painter who found his own style in dynamic shapes. He made 750 paintings such as “Starry Night over the Rhone”, “The Bedroom”, “The Sunflowers”, “Wheat Field under Clouded Sky”, “The Church at Auvers”, “Portrait of Dr Gachet”...and 1600 drawings. After suffering several mental crisis along his life (hallucinations, insomnia…), he finally committed suicide on 29th July 1890 in France.

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2. Description and basic facts.

a. Formal analysis. i.

Basic facts.

The author of this painting is Vincent Willem Van Gogh. The title of this painting is “Starry Night over the Rhone” and he painted this picture in September 1888. Now , the painting is in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Dimensions: height 72.5 x width 92 cm

ii.

Objective description.

In this painting, you can see the brush­strokes. In the background you can see buildings near the Rhone river and the reflection of the stars on the water of the Rhone. Here, there are lights in the buildings and houses that are reflected on the river too and in this picture we can see the curve shape of the waterway.

In the middleground of the painting you can see the waves reaching the harbour. crashing against the boats.

In the foreground of the painting you can see a couple walking along the river bank.

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3. Formal qualities.

The author of this painting is a post impressionist painter and he used different ways of working. This picture is oil on canvas. The brush­strokes are in the same direction, and are not clear. The majority of the colours are cold but there are warm colours too. The author used a type of perspective that consists in the view with a normal high that is called straight on. The atmosphere is relaxed and the couple at a starry night is a symbol of love.

4. Judgement. a. Cristina.

I like this painting: I think it is very interesting. The mixture of warm colours like yellow, with cold colours like blue, makes me feel quiet and relaxed. What I most like is the starts light reflected on the surface of the river Rhone although I must admit I dislike the darkness and the shadows which you can see in some parts of the picture, for example on the edges and on the foreground of the image.

I think that the author painted the image as he did because he was sad and melancholic and this is the reason why he used dark colours and if he had been happy he would have painted the day instead of the night. Maybe he liked the stars and the night very much because he painted other starry nights.

When I watched this painting for the first time I liked it very much and I suggested to my classmate to choose it for our project.

b. Miriam.

I think that the author tries: to attract the attention to the use of the same colour in the sky and on the river to express the night and to attract the attention to this clear place. I believe that the couple is a symbol of love and the place helps to emphasize it. I like all Van Gogh’s paintings about starry nights, but I prefer this one because it expresses more things than the others.

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5. Style.

The author of this painting is post impressionist so you can see marked colouristic brush­strokes. Colour was essential for Vincent Van Gogh. His night paintings, including this one, emphasize the sparkling colours of the night sky and the artificial lighting. He captures the gas lighting reflections in Arles across the glimmering blue Rhone water.

6. Interpretation.

Night effects representation worries Van Gogh since his Arles arrival (February, 1888).

On September he realizes at last that project he is so interested in. First he paints “Cafe Terrace at Night”. After that he makes “Starry night over the Rhone” where you can see night colours: Prussian blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue… City lights are reflected on the water and stars sparkle like precious stones. A few months later, after being hospitalized, he paints “Starry Night”. He is guided by his imagination and not for a real landscape.

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7. Context.

Some of his paintings are: “Starry Night”, “The Bedroom”, “The Sunflowers”, “Wheat Field under Clouded Sky”, “The Church at Auvers”, “Portrait of Dr Gachet”... Other post impressionist artists of this period are Joan Miró, Paul Signac, George Seurat and Paul Cézanne. We must also mention Adolphe Monticelli and Pablo Picasso, although they are not post impressionist.

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8. Bibliography ● Information: ●

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< http://www.vangoghreproductions.com/paintings/1888­33.html > [Consulted on: 5/2/2014 ]

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< http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0994883/bio > [Consulted on: 25/01/2014]

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Cornelia Homburg. Los tesoros de Vincent Van Gogh. Barcelona. University Bookshop Editions, S.L,2008 [ Consulted on 21/02/2014]

Image: ●

http://saliary.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/starry_night_over_the_rhone.jpg [Consulted on: 5/2/2014 ]

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http://leafcollector.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/ [Consulted on 26/02/2014]

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www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79802 [Consulted on 26/02/2014]

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Dr._Gachet [Consulted on 26/02/2014]

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http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=2796&lang=en [Consulted on 26/02/2014]

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http://makingamark.squidoo.com/vincent_van_gogh [consulted on 28/02/2014]

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http://leafcollector.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/ [consulted on 26/02/2014]

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http://www.paris­paris­paris.com/es/paris_photo_tour/orsay_museum_art_collecti on/vincent_van_gogh_the_church_at_auvers [consulted on 28/02/2014]

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http://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/743/Wheat­Field­Under­Clouded ­Sky.html [consulted on 28/02/2014] 8

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