The Starry Night

So, you think you know this painting? Let’s be honest, the sky isn't supposed to move like that. The celestial bodies are engaged in a swirling, psychedelic dance, courtesy of some seriously thick and frenetic brushwork. This is a technique called impasto, where paint is laid on so thickly you can see the brushstrokes, giving the whole scene a turbulent, three-dimensional quality. Below the cosmic commotion sits a perfectly tranquil, and notably imaginary, village. The church spire, a little shout-out to the artist's Dutch homeland, seems blissfully unaware of the chaos above. Now, let's talk about that giant, dark, flame-like thing in the foreground. It’s a cypress tree, and while it acts as a handy visual bridge between the earth and the heavens, it's also a traditional symbol of death and mourning. Cheery, right? This whole emotional rollercoaster was painted from the window of an asylum in 1889. The view is of the pre-dawn sky, and that ridiculously bright "star" to the right of the cypress is actually the planet Venus, which was having a particularly showy moment that spring. While art historians talk about hope and the divine, the artist himself apparently considered the painting a failure. This artwork can be found at Museum of Modern Art.