The Starry Night - Vincent van Gogh

Today I had very little time to find and select an interesting but not mainstream painting today like I usually do, so I thought it’d be interesting to see how my perplexity research workflow held up against arguably the most famous landscape painting ever. Here’s what it gave me, I’ll let you be the judge:

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Each morning I spend a few minutes searching the internet for an old painting or similar that I think looks cool (professional I know). Today it was this of a starry night: (maybe you’ve seen it before)

(View the full sized image here)

I then give identifying info about the work to Perplexity with the instructions to research it and tell me all the interesting things it can about said work.

The Celestial Symphony: Van Gogh's "The Starry Night"

A vibrant crescent moon hangs luminously in the night sky, surrounded by eleven dazzling stars that pulse with energy through concentric halos of yellow and green. Below this cosmic dance, a serene village nestles between rolling hills, its church steeple reaching upward as if to connect earth and heaven. On the far left, a towering cypress tree commands attention, its dark silhouette swirling upward like a flame. This is "The Starry Night," where Vincent van Gogh captured both the world he saw and the emotions that consumed him, creating perhaps the most recognizable night landscape in art history.

A Window to Van Gogh's Soul

The view from a barred window became the portal to artistic immortality. In June 1889, while confined at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, Van Gogh created this masterpiece from the east-facing window of his bedroom. Though inspired by the actual view, the painting transcends mere observation—Van Gogh added an imaginary village below the hills, transforming reality into something more profound.

The turbulent sky dominates the upper two-thirds of the canvas, featuring swirling light blue bands that tumble horizontally like two letter "S’s" on their sides, suggesting a tempestuous wind. These dramatic celestial movements stand in stark contrast to the quiet village below, perhaps reflecting the artist’s own internal struggle between chaos and calm.

Technique and Composition

"The Starry Night" measures approximately 29 × 36 inches (73.7 × 92.1 cm), a modest size for such an outsized cultural impact. Van Gogh applied deep blues and vivid yellows in thick, impasto layers of rhythmic brushstrokes, creating a highly textured surface that seems almost three-dimensional.

The composition breaks from traditional Impressionist techniques of the era. Where others might have used silhouettes to depict a night scene, Van Gogh chose bold contoured lines to express emotion. The painting's circular patterns direct the viewer's eye in a dot-to-dot effect across the canvas, ensuring fluidity and movement throughout the scene.

Symbolism in Swirls

Each element in "The Starry Night" carries symbolic weight. The church steeple dominates the village, symbolizing unity while simultaneously creating an impression of isolation. The cypress tree on the left, traditionally associated with mourning and cemeteries in Southern France, reaches dramatically toward the heavens like a dark flame connecting earth to sky.

The eleven stars aren’t random—Van Gogh carefully placed each one, dotting their centers with saturated yellow or orange, then transitioning to light green before blending into the deep lapis blue of the night sky. Some art historians suggest the painting draws inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints, evidenced by its composition and vibrant color palette.

The Artist’s Struggle

In a letter to his brother Theo after completing the work, Van Gogh expressed concern that the abstraction in "The Starry Night" had "gone too far" and reality had "receded too far in the background." This self-critique reveals his artistic tension—pushing boundaries while worrying he’d lost touch with reality.

The painting profoundly reflects Van Gogh’s mental state during his asylum stay. The turbulent, swirling sky might represent his emotional turmoil or even hallucinations, while the peaceful village below could symbolize the normal world from which he felt increasingly disconnected. Despite this internal chaos, he created a work of stunning beauty—perhaps finding momentary peace in artistic expression.

The Painting’s Journey

Since 1941, "The Starry Night" has found its home at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Its journey from a hospital room in France to becoming one of the world’s most recognized paintings is a testament to its enduring emotional power.

The Man Behind the Masterpiece

Vincent Willem van Gogh, a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter, created "The Starry Night" during one of the most productive yet troubled periods of his life. Struggling with mental illness characterized by episodes of "acute mania with generalized delirium" and hallucinations, he sought treatment at the asylum after the infamous incident where he cut off part of his ear following an argument with fellow artist Paul Gauguin. Despite these challenges, or perhaps because of them, Van Gogh channeled his unique vision into works that would eventually establish him as one of the most influential figures in Western art history.

And that's it!

If you have any details you think Perplexity left out, reply to this email and I'll adjust my prompt to nudge it to include it next time.

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Thanks for reading!

-JP

Current prompt: I want you to create a newsletter post describing the fun and exciting stories around a painting. It should be a newsletter read for leisure and should be an enjoyable read (not just a list of facts) here's what you’re gonna do: Find the name of the following painting in its original language and any alternative names it goes by. Then Research the painting and give me blurb telling me all you can about the artist, the historical context/events it was created in, the style, the materials used, the composition and visual elements, the story/underlying message, what inspired the work/what it meant to the author, and whatever other info you find that helps give a complete understanding of the work. A description of what is depicted (mention subjects) should be the first thing, while the “biography” of the artist should be last. Besides that you are free to present the information in a concise and captivating way, with the most interesting and novel stuff closest to the top. Order the presentation of information for which pieces have the most compelling and interesting story to tell. At least some of the description should be formatted like a story. [fore example: a couple sits on a bench watching the sunset while a man next to them…]. ONLY include information that is for THIS SPECIFIC PAINTING. you will find info on paintings similar to this one but NOT this one. OMMIT INFO ABOUT SUCH PIECES.