English level: middle
This piece of art is one of the most celebrated works of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. He painted The Starry Night during his 12-month stay at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, several months after suffering a breakdown in which he severed a part of his own ear with a razor.
While at the asylum, he painted during bursts of productivity that alternated with moods of despair. As an artist who preferred working from observation, van Gogh was limited to the subjects that surrounded him—his own likeness, views outside his studio window, and the surrounding countryside that he could visit with a chaperone.
Although van Gogh’s subjects were restricted, his style was not. He experimented with the depiction of various weather conditions and changing light, often painting the wheat fields nearby under a bright summer sun or dark storm clouds.
words to learn:
celebrated (adj) - famous for some special quality or ability
asylum (noun) - protection or safety, especially that given by a government to people who have been forced to leave their own countries for their safety or because of war
breakdown (noun) - a condition in which you are unable to control thoughts or feelings that prevent you from living and working as you usually do
to sever - to break or separate, especially by cutting
burst (noun) - to feel a strong emotion, or strong wish to do something
to alternate - to happen or exist one after the other repeatedly
despair (noun) - the feeling that there is no hope and that you can do nothing to improve a difficult or worrying situation