Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, was the oldest son of a Dutch minister and a bookseller's daughter. Like Gaugin, van Gogh tried multiple professions before beginning work as an artist at the age of 27. Van Gogh's choice to portray rustic life in evident in his 900 plus paintings, in which van Gogh invokes the use of a "dark palette and coarse application of paint" to achieve the effect desired for his work that dealt with lower class citizens. After observing the work of Neo-Impressionist artists such as Seurat and Signac, van Gogh began to slowly insert bursts of light color into his art. Later in 1888, van Gogh spent an extended period of time in the company of Paul Gauguin, another Post Impressionist artist in the city of Arles. It was during his time with Gauguin that van Gogh famously cut off part of his left ear, due to a mental breakdown.
Van Gogh's mental state continued to haunt him throughout the coming years, and so on July 27, 1890, van Gogh shot himself in a field of wheat. Unfortunately as with many great artists, van Gogh's genius was only fully discovered after his suicide. Nearly a quarter century after his death, van Gogh's artistic prowess grew incredibly famous as World War I broke out.
Unmistakably van Gogh's most famous piece, the popularity and ubiquity of "Starry Night" has risen to dizzying proportions. As with the title, the most striking part of "Starry Night" is the dark sky set alight with swirling stars. The swirling aspect gently persuades the viewer to follow the stars path as they give light to the town below. The bottom portion of the painting is filled with the town, which is purposefully centered around a church, highlighted by its tall steeple. The inclusion of the church in the town depicts not only van Gogh's religious upbringing, but also the all encompassing nature of the church in the 19th century. Also, on the left hemisphere of the painting, a large dark figure looms over the town and into the night sky. Although the structure is unidentifiable, the overpowering nature is undeniable in relation to the town.
Van Gogh painted Starry Night while in an Asylum at Saint-Remy in 1889. Fun Fact: many believe the 11 stars in the sky represent Genesis 39:9 ("And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me."), indicating van Gogh's interest in the evangelization of the poor.

Included is an interactive video that details the movement expressed in "Starry Night"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCHFAsXYHGA