Visual Rhetoric Project

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Visual Rhetoric Project

• Starry Night
• By Rebekah Thompson

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Background Information

• This is a famous painting by Vincent Van Gogh.
• He created this art work in 1889 in Saint-Remy
  (in an asylum.)
• Vincent Van Gogh is a very well known painter.
• He was a Dutch post impressionist painter .

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What do you first see?
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What do you first see?

• The huge mountain is what you first see followed
  by the swirls of the clouds and the church
  steeple.

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What is juxtaposed?
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What is juxtaposed?

• The giant mountain is juxtaposed to the town and
  the swirling night sky.

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What is the purpose of the image?
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What is the purpose of the image?

• The purpose of the image is to show what he saw
  out side of his window to him. Its not
  completely accurate but the sky is said to be
  somewhat similar. It is his response to what he
  saw in the sky.

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What is the message of the painting?
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What is the message of the painting?

• The message of the photo is to portray religious
  aspects of life through the mountain representing
  sin and the mistakes you make in life.
• Also, the town and the sky representing the
  sinless and the innocence of childhood.

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Compare the two images. What changes in the image?
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Compare the two images. What changes in the image?

• The soap version of Starry Night is more
  abstract than the original and has more color
  than the original. It is missing five stars, many
  small buildings and the simple fact of simplicity
  that the original has.

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If the image is changed, what is lost?
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If the image is changed, what is lost?

• The panting loses part of its religious aspect.
  Instead of the juxtaposition between the gothic
  mountain and the harmless town, they become
  similar. There isnt a huge difference between
  the two and it becomes unclear on what it is
  about.

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What is the ethical appeal?
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What is the ethical appeal?

• Vincent Van Gogh is a very well-known artist,
  therefore the painting is credible.

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What is the logical appeal?
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What is the logical appeal?

• Logically you this is about religious aspects
  because the church steeple is one of the main
  focuses of the piece.

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What is the emotional appeal?
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What is the emotional appeal?

• You feel at ease simply because of the swirly
  motion of the clouds. Also, calm through the town
  and the hills in the background.

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Works Cited

• The Museum of Modern Art. "MoMA The Collection
  Vincent Van Gogh. The Starry Night. Saint
  Rémy, June 1889." MoMA The Museum of Modern
  Art. The Museum of Modern Art, n.d. Web. 12 Nov.
  2011.
• The Van Gogh Gallery. "Starry Night by Vincent
  Van Gogh." Vincent Van Gogh Gallery - Welcome!
  Templeton Reid, LLC., 15 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Nov.
  2011.
• Mancoff, Debra N. "HowStuffWorks "Vincent Van
  Gogh's Death"" HowStuffWorks "Entertainment"
  HowStuffWorks, Inc, 27 Aug. 2007. Web. 12 Nov.
  2011.