Art & Culture – Penfluky

Nausea of Jean-Paul Sartre

I have been reading this book, nausea, for quite a long time. No matter how short this book is, don’t fall for the less number of pages, it is a lot of content that exhausts an average mind. When I began this book, I read 85 pages in a single go. But then, I didn’t dare touch it for two months. It is not that I didn’t want to open the book; there was never a moment that I didn’t think about it.

Everything I look reminds of “nausea”. The way Jean-Paul Satre wrote the book, he takes time to explain everything around the character. The character hits an existential crisis and begins to observe everything around him keenly. He begins to explain everything to us in a detailed manner. We are reading his journal, the pages left from his diary. His name is Antoine Roquentin, and his dairy explains all his thoughts and feelings about everything.

There is a page where Antoine explains how he felt anxious when he thought about his existence. He keeps reminding himself that he exists. And he keeps repeating “I think therefore I exist” in his mind numerous times and at the end, says, “I think therefore I am moustache” and loses it! He begins to question everything since he picks up a rock to skip it in a river; begins to question the essence of stone, and since then, he asks the nature of everything.

He begins to contemplate people, their actions, lifestyles; doesn’t see meaning in doing whatever it is. And he questions everything in a rather radical manner by drowning in absurd imaginations. Jean-Paul Sartre has carefully written the thoughts of Antoin in a way that while reading the pages that consist of anxious thoughts, we feel nervous too. I found myself observing everything in a more detailed manner and started describing things around me after reading 85 pages in a single go. I’m like Antoin too, and this book acted like the rock for him in his story.

Ever since I have read those pages, I became sensitive to smell. I began keen on observing the smells of everything. I even had a vomiting sensation, literal Nausea after sniffing certain smells. All the world is smells, visuals, audio, touch and taste. And there is nothing more to it; I feared reading this book any more. I needed time to continue reading this gem. And I have overloaded myself with it. After this overdose, something continued its journey with me—the meaning of this particular book.

Even though I have more 80 pages to read, I somehow knew where he was leading with the rest of the book. The effect that the 85 pages have done to my mind, I had the thoughts of Antoin for next 80 pages. I understood Antoin, and I suffered from similar views. I knew where Jean-Paul would lead me next. And I had existential crisis myself at the age of 19, and it was four years ago on 21st September that I first this ‘nausea’ that Sartre calls.

This Nausea bothered me, and I had cried multiple nights because I didn’t know anything anymore. Everything seemed false because nothing had any meaning. I don’t know if this is how it feels for everyone, but the way Sartre had written it down, I could relate to it. I resumed reading the remaining pages to see if I was right and yes, I was. And I predicted right, and it went over like I thought it would. But it was more beautiful than the first half of the book. He did not just raise multiple existential questions; he tried to resolve it.

Even though the resolution is not correctly baked, even Sartre knows that. He didn’t claim to have answers for the problems. Instead, he ended with a note of temporary patches that Antoin would do to avoid Nausea. It is a significant literary work as its style is new, post-modern and unique. Not only for its academic brilliance, but it is also philosophically sound. Unlike other books which claim to be resolutions of your life and offer fake solutions through influence, Nausea is pretty much straight forward and asks you questions. It is up to you to resolve those questions, or you can choose to embrace them.

The beauty of Indian literature

Indian literature is something I have always adored from the culture of India. Today, I am going to give you a brief insight into Indian literature, which is not exclusively known all over the world. But it is always appreciated and loved by every person who knows about it.

Literature-

The beauty of Indian tradition is that it is one of the oldest kinds of literature in the world. It is primarily written and essentially oral format literature.

Usually, the language was used to compose songs, recite poems and later was slowly converted as a written form.

One among such kinds of literature is Sanskrit literature which is very close to India’s heart. It later has been used to create many languages.

Sanskrit-

Using Sanskrit as a base, India has officially recognised 22 languages. Many pieces of literature have been produced in these languages over many years.

In Indian culture, Hindu literary traditions have been dominant due to its large part of occupance in the literary work. The Vedas, which are considered a sacred form of knowledge, is the most privileged part of Indian literature.

There are many other works like the Hindu epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata, treatises like Vaastu Shastra for architecture and town planning, and Arthashastra for political sciences. Works like the Vedas, Upanishads, and Manusmriti which are a part of Hindu holy texts are still used by many people in various parts of the world.

Some other literary works like the Tamil literature has a rich literary tradition going back to 2000 years. It is highly known for its poetries in epics, the philosophy and the secular forms.

A few other literary works that made the golden era of Indian literature are ‘Mricchakatika’ by Shudraka, ‘Abhijanam Shakuntalam’ and ‘Meghdoot’ by Kalidasa, ‘Ratnavali’ by Sri Harsha and ‘Svapna Vasavadattam’ by Bhaasa.

Chanakya’s ‘Arthashastra’ and Vatsyayana’s ‘Kamasutra’ have also been mentioned in academics. Arthashastra has been taken as a base for the economic framework of India.

Indian literature has its traces in the vernacular languages of the northern Indian stories of Krishna and Rama like religious love poems written in Maithili (eastern Hindi of Bihar) and 12th-century poems by Jaydev, called the ‘Gitagovinda’.

A huge part of literature was produced in the form of personal devotion to a god especially addressed to Rama (who is considered as an avatar of Vishnu, the God). The Avadhi (eastern Hindi) works of a writer named Tulsi Das, and his ‘Ramcharitmanas’ includes this type of work.

In the early stages, many people like gurus (founders of the Sikh religion) like Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Arjun Dev, composed bhakti hymns in the devotion of their deities.

My personal favourite is the Rajasthani princess and poet Mira Bai who in the 16th century, expressed her love and devotion in lyric verses to the lord Krishna in an exceptional manner. A Gujarati poet named Narsimh Mehta also did similar work.

Hindi-

It started as religious and philosophical poetry in medieval periods in the form of dialects like Avadhi and Brij. Writers like Kabir and Tulsidas are the most famous figures from this period. In modern times, the Khadi dialect was used more which lead to the creation of a variety of literature in Sanskrit.

The first prose written in Hindi was Chandrakanta, a prose written by Devaki Nandan Khatri. Munshi Premchand, a Hindi novelist, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Varma, and Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ are the most famous figures from this period.

In the recent 150 years, many writers have contributed to the development of modern Indian literature. Rabindranath Tagore, a writer from Bengal, was the first Indian to win the Nobel Prize for literature (Gitanjali) in the year 1913.

English literature-

With the influence of Western ideologies and the introduction of the printing press in the British era, a literary revolution occurred. The writers wrote mostly for supporting the cause of freedom struggle and for removing the existing social evils.

The great examples of the English literature in India are Ram Mohan Roy and Swami Vivekananda. Ram Mohan Roy’s campaign to introduce scientific education in India and Swami Vivekananda’s works contributed to a great part of English literature.

Several other writers like R.K. Narayan, who wrote novels and tales of the village in southern India like ‘Swami and Friends’ and Mulk Raj Anand, who wrote novels like ‘Untouchable’ (1935) and ‘Coolie’ (1936), became famous in the modern period of India.

Among the younger authors, Anita Desai, who wrote famous novels like ‘Clear Light of Day’ (1980) and ‘In Custody’ became famous.

Novelists/ writers like Arun Kolatkar and R. Parthasarathy, Toru Dutt, Sarojini Naidu, Aurobindo, Dom Moraes, P. Lal, A.K. Ramanujan, Kamala Das, Raja Rao, Khushwant Singh, Salman Rushdie, K.R. Sreenivasan Iyengar, G.V. Desani, M. Ananthanarayanan, Nlissim E Zekiel, Bhadani Bhattacharya, Manohar Malgonkar, Arun Joshi, Kamala Markandaya, C.D. Narasimhaiah, Nayantara Sahgal, O.V. Vijayan, and M.K. Naik are also well-known for their works.

Among the latest writers are Sashi Tharoor (‘Show Business’), Allan Sealy (‘The Trotter-Nama’), Amitav Ghosh (‘Circle of Reason’, ‘Shadow Lines’), Vikram Seth (‘A Suitable Boy’), Upamanyu Chatterjee (‘English August’), Vikram Chandra (‘Red Earth and Pouring Rain’) and Upamanyu Chatterjee (‘English August’).

Women authors like Arundhati Roy, Booker Prize Winner for ‘God of Small Things’, Jhumpa Lahiri, 2000 Pulitzer Prize winner in Fiction, Shobha De, etc. have taken a boom in recent times of the literature.

You can find more about Indian literature here- http://factsanddetails.com/india/Arts_Culture_Media_Sports/sub7_5a/entry-4236.html

The Metamorphosis Of A Great Gray Moth

Vincent Van Gogh grew curious towards butterflies and moths between 1889 and 1890. He liked the metaphorical representation of human transformation through the Metamorphosis of insects, and especially Moths and Butterflies. When he was drawing such transforming creatures, he found this beautiful Moth. He described this moth as ‘Death’s Head Moth’ to his brother in his letter. Also in this letter, Van Gogh said he wouldn’t like to draw it because to draw it, he has to kill such a beautiful creature. It did take him a lot of thinking, but in the end he drew this Great Peacock Moth and added to the collection of his Butterfly Series. The thing that made Van Gogh curious was the shape this Moth carried on its back. It looks like a human skull. And the colors of it; dark greens and grays; it looked like death to Van Gogh.

The reason behind his interest in butterflies, as we stated earlier was his metaphorical interpretation towards human transformation. Van Gogh believed that humans have the capacity to transform; not physically, but mentally. He wanted to symbolize this characteristic of transformation by pressing on to the concept of Butterfly and Moth metamorphosis. He used his butterfly series to symbolize hope and transformation in humans. He wondered about the possibilities present in the universe when he started drawing butterflies. He used to think about the prostitutes in brothels that he used to meet when he thinks of metamorphosis. He talked about hope referring to prostitutes and butterflies. “Like the caterpillar transforms into a beautiful butterfly, imagining the various possibilities in the world, what may these prostitutes become in the future?” he wrote in a letter to his friend.

The Metamorphosis

Crawling on the green leaves,
I saw the kids joyously jumping and playing with the butterflies.
Looking at all the colorful cousins of mine, 
I decided to be the one with most of the colors on me.

Every time I chew on the leaf,
My only thought is to progress.
To progress enough,
For me to fly high, with the wings of my own.

Crawling inch by inch and eating all the leaf,
I shed my skin in the hope of gaining new.
Each time I shed my skin,
I think the time has come.

But each time a new skin comes,
The more disappointed I become.
The pressure on me is un-imaginable.
The stress to be the best.

Have no thoughts of becoming something else,
Have no plans of what to do next either.
But my goal was just to thrive.
To flap my wings and make people smile.

Saw my friends shedding their final skin.
Saw them build a nest,
Saw them break it out,
And saw them fly away.

Each day passes,
I become more sad.
Is this my final form?
Can I not transform?

But thinking about it made me hate,
Hate the thought of not transforming.
Swallowing the grudge that I carry,
I started despising the colorful winged creatures.

Began to wonder my unique nature,
Began to observe my difference.
By now there is no confusion,
It is evident that I am different from those who crawled with me.

Somewhere inside,
Even when I don’t want to accept,
I know that I am not one of them,
That I can never be a butterfly.

Days have passed,
And the pressure increased too.
Shed my final skin,
Built my own shell.

Curious were the kids,
To see what color that I would turn.
But I don’t wonder anymore,
That I already know that I’m different.

Days passed and changes began.
I don’t like myself anymore.
The darkness sucked me in,
Into a big void.
And soon it became me, the void.

I tore the shell and came out.
Shocked were the kids but I don’t care.
I heard a cry instead of a laugh.
My reflections didn’t look colorful.

But I knew it long back,
That I will turn up gray.
I don't want to cry,
Because not my mistake.

Being a butterfly,
Would be a mistake.
For I was never one with those color winged things,
I have always been the Great Gray Moth!

Mistake was mine,
To dream of being them.
But no matter what you think I’m,
This is my Metamorphosis.

This is my tribute to the thought of Metamorphosis of Van Gogh. For him it was hope, and for me it is change. Change that you have when you finally knew yourself; the true yourself!

The Important Line Between Compromise And Sacrfice.

At some point in life, we may have made a few compromises and few sacrifices for the happiness of the self or to satisfy people we love or summoning to the situation. What is the line between them? What is the difference? To understand the difference between the two words, we need to know the meanings of them. So what is the meaning of Compromise and Sacrifice? Compromise means “expediently accept standards that are lower than is desirable.” Sacrifice means “give up (something valued) for the sake of other considerations.” By the literal meaning of them, they seem very different. But are we using them correctly in reality? Let us consider the following story.

There is a kid named Micheal. His father was rigorous on him. He used to verbally abuse and hit Micheal when he used to play with his friends for a longer time. He wants Micheal to be an Engineer. He always taught him to sacrifice his time for studies, and he can enjoy the results in future. Micheal had a passion for studying literature and becoming a poet. He finished his matriculation and wanted to pursue arts for his schooling. He is scared to talk to his dad. Somehow he gathered courage, went to his dad and told him about his passion. His dad snapped out, and the words he said left the first permanent scar on Micheals’s heart. He Said, ” You want to study arts?” “Where did you learn talking against me?” “What passion are you talking about?” “You can compromise the dream for the future, Just shut up and study Engineering.” He said this and bashed Micheal and sent him away.

Micheal was helpless. He cried a lot and tried to forget it. His schooling continued, and for obvious reasons, the grades were low. His father used to abuse him to get good grades and those two years were like hell for him. Once the schooling is complete, Micheal wanted to speak again to his father so that he can pursue his graduation in Arts. He again gathered courage and asked him the same. Here comes the second scar, his father snapped and said, “Didn’t your brain grow?” “What will you do by studying literature?” “Do you think yourselves as Shakespeare?” and was bashed again.

Micheal does his graduation in Engineering, and he hardly passed it. His father again used to bash or verbally abuse for his grades. As graduation is done and he got an “Engineering” tag. He wanted to give a final try on his passion and talks to his dad again. His dad became furious and left the final scar. Here is what his father said, “How should I tell you?” “Why are you born to me?” “I wish I never gave birth to you.” “You are a disgrace to me.” “Go get a job you worthless scum.” Micheal is now completely broken and starts searching for a job.

Micheal finally joins in a big MNC and starts his career. He goes into depression, and don’t know what to or who to speak to. One day he sees a pop up saying “Worried about your work? Join us! We will assist you.” The program name is “We have all been there.” He signs up for it and goes for it. He sees around two hundred people there. They are divided into twenty groups with ten members each, and a psychiatrist is assigned. The doctor, Micheal’s group, got was Dr Raymond. He points to one the candidates and asks “Have you ever been in a situation, where you are sad about your work, but still got to do it?” He replies ” I have been there.” He asks the next candidate. “Have you been in a situation where you hate your work and still got to do it? She replies ” I have been there.” Now he asks Micheal “Have you ever been in a situation where your family forced you to work?” Micheal was shaken to the core, and he is stunned for a moment, clears his throat and says ” I have been there.” In the same way, the doctor asks everyone work-related questions, and the reply is the same ” I have been there.” The doctor now says “You all have been there.” Let us unite and say “We have all been there. come on” Slowly they Yell ” We have all been there.” The doctor says ” Louder!” They yell ” we have all been there!” Micheal was in shock that these many people are suffering from the same and shakes his head.

Now Micheal is working in the same company and is earning a considerable amount of money. But he lacks the most important thing every human craves for, that is “Happiness.” Micheal was, is and never will be happy with the trauma he has. He is Just leading the life with the help of a doctor.

Now if we think of the above story what Micheal did was not a compromise, it was a sacrifice. So what is the important line between compromise and sacrifice? It is “Happiness.” Why should a kid compromise or sacrifice his passion? The only compromise or sacrifice needed to achieve ones passion is time and energy. Nothing more than that.

What Micheal fathers did to him happens to most of the kids, maybe in a less violent way, but the impact is the same. According to a survey from Monster.com ( one of the biggest recruiting sites in the world), 83% of the employees, Would Opt To Work For Passion. Why is the number so high? Do we need only corporate employees to run the world? Don’t we need a good writer? A good dancer? Or a good painter? Why are we killing the dream of a kid before it blooms?

In the end, if your passion was or is a part of compromise or sacrifice, then my friend, you know what to say. Yes, that’s right! “we have all been there!” You might have had or have difficulties on your dreams from any side, but stick to your gut and let your dreams blossom. I know it is difficult, but trust me the fruits at the topmost branch of the tree are very tasty.

Links for reference:

The survey from Monster.com:

The Verdict is in, Only 17% Employees Work for Money, 83% Would Opt to Work for Passion: Monster

BE LOCAL – New word for “BE SWADESHI”

By- Samhitha Dulam

Yes, folks!!! We all heard of MODI Ji asking for us to be local, and this isn’t the first time that we are asked to boycott other countries products and use our country products. It started years ago to be prior it started from the times of swadeshi movement. It is very well explained by one of our artist called ABANINDRANATH TAGORE.

We have seen many portraits of BHARAT MATA. But a very few of us have seen the original painting of Bharat Mata. Here is the painting of Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore.

In a land where the goddess and the female force are worshipped, it is not so surprising that the potent symbol and our nation is symbolized by a woman – BHARAT MATA. This is one of the most iconic paintings of Abanindranath Tagore, the founder of the Bengal School of Art.

The WORK:

This painting was mainly conceived, keeping in mind about the swadeshi movement. The painting made with watercolours depicts the BHARAT MATA as a four-armed goddess who looks like a saffron-clad woman, dressed like sadhvi, holding sheaves of paddy, a book, a piece of white cloth and a garland in her four hands. This has so much of impression on people mostly because of the emotion, purity and historical value in it. She holds the multiple items associated with the Indian economy and culture of India in the early 20th century. The entire rendering is very symbolic, yet it’s quite real.

The impact of this painting was that Bharat Mata became the new deity of the country, unlike all other Hindu goddesses who had weapons and became the face of modern Swadeshi India. Abanindranath made her with the theme of the motherland, which is not in shackles or chains but radiant and promising a bright future. Jawaharlal Nehru wrote in his autobiography;

“It is curious how one cannot resist the tendency to give an anthropomorphic form to a country….. India becomes Bharat Mata….some such pictures rouse the emotions of hundreds of thousands.”

There are many interpretations about this painting where some said she is a goddess; she is made as a symbol of revolutionary and many more. Of course, they are accurate and here is my interpretation: she is named as Bharat Mata, where the nation is referred as “MATA” –MOTHER, evoking the powerful force of the goddess and merging it with a deep love for the motherland. And observe the painting, it ultimately shows us the values, culture and the purity of being a SWADESHI (Now called as LOCAL).

My Give Away:

Bharat Mata- “The woman as the Nation” what did she wear- pure saffron-coloured saree, a pair of shakha-pola, conch shell and coral bangles around her wrists and nothing apart from that yet she looked so good, so attractive, as beautiful as our nation, with her face marked with an expression of quiet contemplation like she is politely waiting for you to finish your point before presenting her interpretation of the issue at hand. She has just shown us the beauty of being SWADESHI. The importance of our culture, we all do know about it, yet we LOST it, man!! It’s so sad to say and accept it, but we indeed LOST our CULTURE, our TRADITIONS, our way of being SWADESHI!

It’s ok! Somehow we showed more interest in other products rather than swadeshi products. And we came to know about it so late but remember it’s never late to change ourselves if it’s for a good cause.

Being swadeshi doesn’t make you low or don’t let others say it’s much better to use other products rather than our products instead let them know the importance of our culture, tradition, values and the help you do to an INDIAN as an INDIAN!!

Let’s be like swadeshi or like a local and embrace the greatness of your culture and values in it.

#Buy Swadeshi, Be like Swadeshi!!!

Artists expressed SOLITUDE not LONELINESS

By- Samhitha Dulam

Just like many of us, I had experienced loneliness, but soon after, when I had gone through some portraits, I decided to have more solitude rather than isolation.

Well many of us might have thought that most of the artists had shown their pain and loneliness, but I would rather see it as solitude. And many of us might think there is no much difference, but actually, it does.

Yes! Just have a look at the below portrait by the great PABLO PICASSO

PABLO PICASSO’S “THE OLD GUITARIST” painting belongs to the artist famed “BLUE PERIOD”. It portrays an old, undernourished man wearing torn, threadbare clothing and playing the guitar on the streets of Barcelona.

In general, we do see the same and may think that he must be alone even in a crowded place. Yes, of course, he was alone. Still, he was so immersed in his own company that he hadn’t felt the pain of loneliness. Yet, rather than being DEPRESSED about being lonely, he had CREATED pleasant music on the streets. Lost in his world, he was.

Picasso used the blue shades to depict poverty, human misery and suffering and yet he showed us SOLITUDE. After all, as the master said: “Without great SOLITUDE, no serious work is POSSIBLE.”

Let’s have a look at one more masterpiece called AUTOMAT by EDWARD HOPPER.

Edward’s AUTOMAT(1927), is probably one of the most recognisable and shows much SOLITUDE.

In general, the word AUTOMAT defines self-service restaurants. This work shows the feeling of loneliness, darkness and isolation, yet she felt so protected. The colours used are mostly dark and dull shades (yellow, green, black). The faint yellow shows the fear. In contrast, green indicates emotional healing and safety. Though an empty chair shows loneliness, the black colour shows the power of being solitude that gives much positiveness rather than a negative depression feeling provided by isolation.

The art gives the impression of a woman who is isolated from others but not from her self thoughts. It’s like she is so involved in herself, that she just chooses to escape from society but not from herself.

For even better understanding, let me explain this artwork called SOLITUDE by DALER USMANOV(2015).

This piece of art is one of the most recognised in the world collection organised by LUCIANO BENETTON collection in Tajikistan. The best part of this painting is the way how Usmonov showed us the power of solitude through a young man sitting in a dark room, watching through the window where the light pro located and changes the entire mood. It can be seen that though the man is isolated from the rest of the world, he is just enjoying his own company. In contrast, the light falling through the window just shows us that always we could find hope, peace and mostly we can enlighten ourselves even in the darkest times. But only when we feel more solitude than loneliness.

My GIVE AWAY :

All those artists gave us the portraits where we could find the loneliness and solitude. And yes it all depends on us to either take it as an example of SOLITUDE, start reflecting ourself and reach inner peace or take it as LONELINESS that only gives you a negative vibe that mostly kills a person just like illness.

There is a lot of difference between solitude and loneliness, just like being with yourself and being left out from yourself! Yes, of course, we all do feel alone and leave out from the rest but remember to embrace the aloneness and realise that you are the one with the whole universe.

Come on, MAN!!!!

Be comfortable with yourself, find balance within you, become intimate with your own thoughts. You will feel so happy that you are not under someones’ demand and you are all by yourself. The so-called extroverts, who are primarily lost in social life and so-called introverts, who are so lost in their own world, ultimately need a little amount of solitude to find harmony.

STARRY NIGHT – Van Gogh’s Masterpiece –The message one should receive

By- Samhitha

We all know about the art called STARRY NIGHT as one of the most recognized art pieces in the world. But most of us have no idea, what the painting actually is? Well, this is what I found when I started working on this art.

Vincent van Gogh painted STARRY NIGHT in 1889 during his stay at the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole near Saint-Remy-de-Provence. Well, coming to the painting, it is a magnificent piece of art undoubtedly. With the incorporation of dark colours of which Blue dominates, blending hills into the sky, the little village stays at the base shown by the shades of brown, grey and blue, each building outlined by black. And here comes the attention grabber of the painting, the stars and moon painted with yellow and white where the moon stands out against the sky.

What I felt in STARRY NIGHT:

One of the most exciting things about this painting is it came entirely out of Van Gogh’s imaginative. The brush strokes on the cypress tree, the clouds around the stars and the moon bend with the curve of the branches, which show that Van Gogh is respected by his people like the clouds bowed to the cypress tree.

The town is just up and down with rigid lines that interrupt the flow of the brush strokes, just like many people who criticized his work.

EXPRESSIONISM and RELIGIOUS INTERPRETATION:

Van Gogh’s signature style, characterized by bright and heavy brushstrokes, which are sloppy, crude and childish. While other painters working in the mid-nineteenth century were mostly interested in painting landscapes and portraits that looked like photographs, Van Gogh used his exaggerated and expressive brushstrokes to visualize the way he felt inside and reveal his personal impressions of whatever subject he wanted to paint. While paintings like Starry Night were obviously far ahead of their time and paved the way for EXPRESSIONISM, one of the significant art movements of the early twentieth century, the art of Van Gogh was largely unappreciated during those times.

But there is much more than INSANITY and ISOLATION in his painting. Van Gogh himself was also religious, even serving as a missionary in his younger days. In 1888, he wrote a letter in which describes “a great starlit vault of heaven….one can only call God.” With a theologian to his family member. Like shown in the art how the spire of church stretches up to the sky, Von Gogh brings God to the village.

Like Joseph, a dreamer and an outcast in the company of his eleven older brothers said in Genesis 37:9 “Look I have dreamed another dream. And this time the moon, the eleven stars bowed down to me.” Which means that he was thrown, sold into slavery and underwent years of imprisonment much like Van Gogh did the last years of his life in the Arles asylum. No matter what Joseph did, he could not receive the acceptance or respect from his 11 older brothers. Likewise, despite his best efforts as an artist, he failed to receive the recognition of art critics of his day. So, we might think where did Van Gogh found himself in STARRY NIGHT? It is uncertain, yet Van Gogh may identify himself with the looming cypress tree in the foreground of the painting.

What I took from this PAINTING?

Well, here is what I took. Though there were so many interpretations of the starry night, I could still find hope in this art. The bright colours shown even in the dark night shows that it is still possible to see the light. Likewise, we need to find hope, and like the shining stars filling the sky, we should lighten up to find a guide to lead our ways. The bold colours used show us to find peace and love in our life.