Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ linked to July 1889 sky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

AP Photo

A new study by South Korean researchers suggests Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting “The Starry Night” may have been inspired by an actual sky he observed in France around July 22, 1889, a month later than the date traditionally assigned to the masterpiece.

The findings, published last week in the journal Scientific Reports, are based on astronomical calculations, weather analyses and letters written by the Dutch postimpressionist painter to his brother.

Researchers led by Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim, a telescope company executive and doctoral candidate at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, identified a predawn sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence that closely matches the celestial details depicted in the painting.

The moon’s crescent shape, Venus and the Hyades star cluster in the constellation Taurus appeared in positions consistent with the scene around July 22, 1889, the team said. Their weather analysis also suggested that conditions would have allowed van Gogh to observe the sky.
Art historians have traditionally dated “The Starry Night” to June 1889, shortly after van Gogh entered an asylum in Saint-Rémy. The artist had cut off his left ear several months earlier following an argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin.
Kim said the new findings challenge the established chronology. He and his team also examined van Gogh’s correspondence with his brother, including references to cicadas that they believe support a July date. Their analysis suggests a seizure commonly associated with that period may have occurred later in the month than previously thought.

Kim first traveled to France in 2019 to investigate the view, visiting in mid-June and again around July 22. He said the brilliant stars visible in the predawn July sky differed from those he observed in June.

However, the proposed date remains a hypothesis rather than a definitive conclusion. José Luis Aragón, a physicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico who has studied the painting but was not involved in the research, said the study offered a careful, interdisciplinary approach. He noted that the moon’s appearance in mid-June did not match the thin crescent depicted by van Gogh.

Aragón also cautioned that the artist worked in a studio at the asylum, drawing on sketches and memory. The painting’s sky may therefore combine observations from several nights.

Still, he said, the research reinforces the idea that the painting was not pure fantasy and that van Gogh closely observed the real sky.