The painting “Starry Night over the Rhine" is one of the arts' works which made Vincent Van Gogh popular in the arts arena. The painting is a representation of how Gogh viewed the Rhine River from his rented house in Lamartine (Naifeh and Gregory 34). Even though Starry Night was the most famous artists of that time, Starry Night over the Rhine brings forth the happiest and memorable time in Van Gogh’s life.
The painting contains two people who seem to be lovers, whereby, the painting portrays them to be very close to each other. The viewers of this painting can realize the theme of love in the work by Vincent Van Gogh (Naifeh and Gregory 60). Moreover, viewers can get the impression that the artwork depicts lovers who are out for a fantastic evening stroll along the Rhine Riverbank (Naifeh and Gregory 40). Even though the artist may have had a romantic meaning in the painting, a close observance of the painting shows a darker meaning.
The Starry Night over the Rhine has used blue and black colors to convey its messages to the viewers. Blue is a refreshing color which cools down the emotion of the viewer (Naifeh and Gregory 34). The color enhances viewing of the painting repeatedly by the viewer without getting distracted. On the other hand, black coincides with blue and hence enhancing the visibility of the painting. Besides these colors, the water in the Rhine River and the blue-stroked land appear not to have been separated. This presents a message that the "lovers" have actually come out of the river; possibly escaping the sinking boat (Naifeh and Gregory 45).
In this painting by Gogh, I like the appearance of the blue sky which causes the water to appear blue. The kind of painting is attractive to my eyes and the posture of the couple suggests that they are in love. The unattractive idea is that the artist does not proceed to indicate further about the love of the couple. Therefore, I am left to reason how better the artist would have portrayed the love of the two individuals in the painting.
Works Cited
Naifeh, Steven W., and Gregory White Smith. Van Gogh: The Life. Random House Incorporated, 2011. Pp. 34-127
