Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh painted The Starry Night in 1889 while staying at the asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. The scene transforms the view and memory of the night sky into swirling forms, with a village added from imagination rather than direct observation.

Van Gogh moved to Arles in southern France in 1888 and began using brighter yellows, blues, and complementary color contrasts. Works like Sunflowers and The Yellow House come from this period, when he hoped to build an artists' community.

Gauguin stayed with Van Gogh in Arles in 1888, but the collaboration collapsed after intense conflict. The period is tied to the famous ear incident and to some of Van Gogh's most recognizable late paintings.

Van Gogh struggled commercially and is generally known to have sold very little while alive, with The Red Vineyard often cited as a documented lifetime sale. His reputation rose dramatically after his death in 1890, helped by exhibitions and by the work of his family in preserving his letters and paintings.