Starry Night Over the Rhône

The view was from the quay on the east side of the Rhône, into the knee of the river towards the western shore: coming down from the north, the Rhône turns to the right at this point to surround the rocks on which Arles is built. From the towers of Saint-Julien and Saint-Trophime at the left, the spectator follows the east bank up to the iron bridge connecting Arles to the suburb of Trinquetaille on the right western bank. This implies a view from place Lamartine towards the southwest (coordinates: 43.682367°N 4.630287°E / 43.682367; 4.630287).^[3] That implied view is not, however, consistent with the stars depicted in the art, as the Plough (Big Dipper) in the Ursa Major constellation would not have been visible from that direction.

Van Gogh announced and described this composition in a letter to his brother Theo:^[4]

Included a small sketch of a 30 square canvas - in short the starry sky painted by night, actually under a gas jet. The sky is aquamarine, the water is royal blue, the ground is mauve. The town is blue and purple. The gas is yellow and the reflections are russet gold descending down to green-bronze. On the aquamarine field of the sky the Great Bear is a sparkling green and pink, whose discreet paleness contrasts with the brutal gold of the gas. Two colorful figurines of lovers in the foreground.^[5]

The foreground indicates heavy rework, wet-in-wet, as soon as the first state was finished.^[6] The letter sketches executed at this time probably are based on the original composition.

The challenge of painting at night intrigued van Gogh.^[7] The vantage point he chose for Starry Night allowed him to capture the reflections of the gas lighting in Arles across the glimmering blue water of the Rhône. In the foreground, two lovers stroll by the banks of the river.

Depicting colour was of great importance to Vincent: in letters to his brother, Theo, he often described objects in his paintings in terms of colour. His night paintings, including Starry Night, emphasize the importance he placed on capturing the sparkling colours of the night sky and of the artificial lighting that was new to the era.^[8]

In September 1888, when Vincent van Gogh painted this picture on the banks of the Rhône, he was looking southwest towards the city of Arles. The Ursa Major is never visible from that direction as it is a circumpolar constellation. However, he could turn his head to the north of his position to see the constellation as depicted.^[9] He ended up merging a terrestrial plane and a celestial plane in his painting. With this choice, the stars are now positioned above the gas lights and create the illusion that the water is illuminated by the stars themselves instead of just by the artificial lights.^[10]

In 1888, he painted the stars to resemble flowers in the night sky. By the time he painted The Starry Night in 1889, his technique had evolved and the brightness of the stars is symbolized by concentric dotted circles.^[9]

"Vincent" (also known as "Vincent [Starry, Starry Night]") is a song by Don McLean, written as a tribute to van Gogh.^[11]

• List of works by Vincent van Gogh
• The riddle of the painting (Extensive research explains the assembly in the painting of a celestial plane and an earthly plane).)