Post-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism was a continuation and extended-version of the French movement - Impressionism. Post-Impressionist artist hadn't just stopped on vibrant colours and bold brush strokes but had gone further into structures, geometric forms, expression and exploring emotions in paint. Many of the appreciated artists were involved in this movement, such as Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin or Charles Angrand.

Probaly the most famous of the artists during this era was Vincent Van Gogh. Although he was never appreciated during his life, at present his paintings are worth millions. Van Gogh was born in Zundert, Holland, 1853. He died at early age (37) after he commited suicide caused by a mental illness.

One of Van Gogh's most famous paintings is The Starry Night. It shows part of the village of Saint-Remy which Van Gogh seen through his sanitarium window.

I like this picture as it seems to me that the artist was probably trying to express astronomical view of the sky at night. I can clearly see the stars, moon and perhaps the Milky Way.

During that time, Van Gogh was perhaps influenced by the discovery of the M51a galaxy in 1744 and the sketch made by Lord Rosse.

The Starry Night

Whirpool Galaxy (M51a) Sketch

Other well-known works from Vincent Van Gogh are the Sunflower Series. One of them, specifically fourth version , can be seen in London National Gallery.The artist did not concentrated really on perspective, light or details but focused on impression of the flowers, colours and rather their form.