Van Gogh and the stars

Since the twentieth century, Van Gogh's and art lovers to such an extent that they have become some of the most admired and influential works in the world.

Van Gogh painted Starry Night Over the Rhone in September 1888, just as fascination with astronomy was spreading throughout Europe. This painting, in which the skies of Provence are depicted with great precision, is the result of the close attention Van Gogh paid to the emotions he felt at night, and to the work of artists who had portrayed evenings before him. In this seminal painting, Van Gogh achieves a degree of expression that is unique in art, and a celestial accuracy that echoes his contemporaries' interest in the stars.

With previously published and original essays by historians of art and literature, this catalogue, accompanying the exhibition Van Gogh and the Stars, is an opportunity to discover the sources, context and artistic repercussions of this defining masterpiece.