What Does Starry Night Tattoo Mean?
This moment led to one of the most popular tattoos of recreated art.
The Painting
The painting itself was painted in Van Gogh’s ground floor studio at the asylum. However, it is said that even though it was painted downstairs, the view of the painting was from his upstairs room.
Van Gogh wasn’t allowed to paint in his bedroom, however, he would make sketches with ink and charcoal on paper to take to his art studio. Van Gogh portrayed the view in various weather conditions including moonrise, sunny days, overcast days, sunrise, rainy days and windy days. The Starry Night painting combines all elements of the day and night. There were 21 versions of this piece and in fifteen of them, cypress trees are visible past the far wall.
The Starry Night Tattoo Meanings
Depending on who you talk to, The Starry Night tattoo represents different traits and meanings. Many of these thoughts come from analysis of the painting and what the colors and compositions represent. Below are some of the meanings behind the painting that one could incorporate into their tattoo.
Composition
When looking at The Starry Night painting, you will notice spinning and whirling clouds, stars that shine bright and crescent moon that shines bright. The Starry Night painting was stylized and somewhat surreal and he even admitted to such in a letter to his brother claiming there were “exaggerations in terms of composition.”
The composition is very fluid and draws the viewer’s eye around the painting and made you feel like you are connecting the dots. The Starry Night tattoo is symbolic of being fluid in life or creating flow. To be easy going and go with the flow of life as the eye does in this painting.
Use of Color
Van Gogh’s use of color in this painting has been a subject of much debate. Some actually believe that Van Gogh had been suffering from a brain disease or lead poisoning to lead him to this choice of color for the painting which has been described as strange, to say the least. His use of yellow and white in the sky draw the eyes that area while the vertical lines of the church tower and the cypress tree break up the composition a bit.
