who painted starry night?

Vincent van Gogh's iconic painting "The starry night" is one of the most beloved and admired works of art in the world. The Dutch post-Impressionist created the painting during his stay at an asylum in Saint-Remy, France in 1889. It is now part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.

Van Gogh initially focused on religious subjects, such as his paintings of "Crows in a Wheatfield" and "The Good Samaritan." In 1888, however he changed his focus to landscapes and nature-based scenes marked by lush colors and thick brushstrokes. He painted around 60 different versions of "The Starry Night," including 11 that were painted from his north-facing window at the asylum. One of those 11 is the version now known worldwide as "The Starry Night."

Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo about this painting, calling it "an amorphous phenomenon" with "a figure of warm color standing out against the somber black background," while expressing his desire to capture the beauty of a starry night over a small French village. His use of heavy brushstrokes and vibrant colors allows him to express emotion with each brush stroke—from the curling trees that appear like laughter, to the swirling stars that blanket the sky before him like an enlightening glow.

He also noted how different stars seem to reveal themselves as time passes, changing from dull points to colorful constellations — and how quickly they can be lost away in moments of cloud cover and darkness. The pastoral landscape within the piece is not so much real as it is imagined — allowing viewers to experience firsthand Van Gogh's interpretation of his home region in France with each careful brush stroke.