Vincent van Gogh

The Starry Night

1889
73.7 × 92.1 cm (29 × 36.3 in)

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VOICES FROM HISTORY

This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big.

Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo from the asylum at Saint-Rémy (no. 777), June 1889

Just as we take the train to go to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to go to a star.

Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo (no. 638), July 1888

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Marcus Bell · 7d

Stood in front of this in New York years ago and the line was 45 minutes. Worth every second. What surprised me is how thick the paint is — the swirls are almost sculpted.

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Priya Raghavan · 5d

The impasto! Reproductions completely flatten it. You have to see it at an angle to understand what he was doing.

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Brian Kelly · 5d

Forty-five minutes is nothing, I waited longer for brunch last weekend. Adding this to the list.

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Hannah Lindqvist · 5d

He painted this from the asylum window at Saint-Rémy. Knowing that, the village feels imagined to me — like something remembered rather than seen.

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Walter Greene · 5d

The cypress in the foreground is doing so much work. Cover it with your thumb and the whole composition goes quiet.

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