The sky in Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night may reflect real observations from around 22 July 1889, according to a South Korean research team. Art historians usually date the painting to June, partly because Van Gogh mentioned a new starry-sky study in a letter to his brother Theo around 18 June. He was then staying at a hospital in Saint-Rémy, southern France.
Led by Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim, the researchers compared five central stars in the painting with the Hyades, a V-shaped group of stars. They also examined the position of Venus and the Moon’s thin crescent shape. After visiting France in 2019 to study Van Gogh’s views, they used computer models to recreate the sky. The arrangement before dawn around 22 July provided the closest match. Their findings appeared in Scientific Reports.
The team suggests that Van Gogh could have begun the painting in June and continued working on it in July. However, astronomer Donald Olson challenges the narrow viewing area used in their calculations. He argues that the painting’s hills require a wider view. The researchers also acknowledge that their sky comparison cannot establish the exact day the painting was completed.
