Historical ContextualizationStarry Night, a probably one of the best known paintings ever, was painted in 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh. Unlike many of his works, Starry Night was painted from Van Gogh's memory, which some credit the emotion in this piece to. His unique, recognizable style was formed after his two year stay in Paris in 1886, where he was exposed to impressionism and neo-impressionism. Despite his popularity now, Van Gogh only sold one painting, The Red Vineyard, in his life time.
When Van Gogh painted Starry Night, he said it was a view from his window in the asylum he was staying at. He admitted himself to the asylum, after a bout of madness, which resulted in him getting in a fight with his friend, cutting off part of his left ear, and giving it to a prostitute. During the last two years of his life, Van Gogh painted over four hundred paintings; a hundred and fifty of them were painted in the asylum. Van Gogh had suffered from mental illness all his life and his depression only grew as he aged. He killed himself in 1890 from a bullet wound in the chest. He was only thirty-seven years old.
