Story

The Starry Night is an oil painting, made by the Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh. He painted this masterpiece in June 1889, from the window of the asylum Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, he was staying at the time. He admitted himself there after a mental breakdown.  Even though the painting shows a landscape by night, it has been painted by daylight. Van Gogh was obsessed by painting the nightly landscapes from his own memory. 

From his east facing window of the asylum, Van Gogh painted 21 paintings including the Starry Night, all under different weather conditions. They all showed the rolling hills in the distance. 

Even though the painting is seen as one of his most famous works, Vincent himself saw it as a failure, according to letters he wrote to his brother, Theo.

Vincent made more than one Starry Night. He made a drawing of the painting and also another painting in similar fashion called, The Starry Night over the Rhône.

                   

The painting has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art since 1941. The painting is seen as one of the most famous paintings in the world.