Van Gogh: Starry Night

"Examines in detail Van Gogh's masterpiece Starry Night and places it in historical context. Over 250 images are linked to the main lecture, and includes supplementary material including Van Gogh's correspondence, close-ups of Starry Night, and illustrations and essays on stellar phenomena in the works of various painters." -- from Washington State University Libraries

"Van Gogh's dramatic picture of the swirling night sky over Saint Rémy is familiar to lovers of postimpressionism everywhere. But after UCLA's Griffin Observatory determined that the painting represented the predawn sky of June 19, 1889 (Van Gogh's letters pinpoint the time and date), art history professor Albert Boime realized there was much more to Starry Night than meets the eye. What he discovered was a fascinating convergence of historical forces. From the observatory atop the newly-built Eiffel Tower, visitors could look down on the 1889 World's Fair, where the Third Republic was showcasing colonies in far corners of the earth and the latest technological wonders. Jules Verne was taking readers to the moon and the ocean floor. Astronomy and astrology had seized the imagination of the public. Boime theorizes that a captivated Van Gogh was in fact responding to, and recording, these tumultuous times in Starry Night.

More than ninety minutes of audio and over two hundred images link the central lecture to supplementary material: Van Gogh's correspondence, close-ups of Starry Night, entertaining contemporary illustrations and photographs, a delightful illustrated essay on stellar phenomena in the work of painters from Giotto to Munch, and more. Immensely learned and completely engaging, this CD-ROM is art history at its most inspired." -- from Voyager