A recent study revealed that Vincent van Gogh’s renowned painting holds more than meets the eye, uncovering fascinating aspects beyond the visible spectrum.
By analyzing the brushstrokes and colors, researchers found that the swirling sky depicted in the painting shared striking similarities with atmospheric dynamical processes.
Van Gogh created this masterpiece in June 1889 while residing in an asylum in southern France, recovering from a severe mental health crisis during which he had self-mutilated his ear just six months prior.
The oil painting, titled “Starry Night,” captures the swirling sky viewed from his window, with an imaginary village added in the foreground. It is characterized by intricate brushwork and vibrant color choices.
The oil painting, titled “Starry Night,” captures the swirling sky viewed from his window, with an imaginary village added to the foreground.
A research group from China noticed the resemblance between the swirling shapes in the painting and aspects of fluid and gas dynamics, prompting them to delve deeper into this intriguing connection.
In an article published in the journal Liquid Physics, the team analyzed the intricate details of the brushstrokes and colors, finding distinct parallels with atmospheric turbulence.
Huang Yongyang, an oceanographer and fluid dynamics expert at Xiamen University in China and a co-author of the study, stated, “The analysis suggests that the painter had an intuitive and profound understanding of natural phenomena. The accurate depiction of these turbulences could stem from studying cloud and atmospheric movements or an innate ability to capture the dynamical aspects of the sky.”
The researchers performed a detailed analysis of the 14 distinct “swirls” visible in the famous painting and found that these shapes perfectly aligned with the patterns predicted by Kolmogorov’s law.
The researchers’ analysis revealed that the swirls in the painting aligned perfectly with the patterns predicted by Kolorovov’s law.
Kolorovov’s law is a physical rule that describes the movement of air in the atmosphere, depending on different inertial energy levels.
In the painting, inertial energy is prominently represented through the prominent use of yellow hues by Van Gogh.
Upon further examination, the team noticed that the distances and weights of the brushstrokes corresponded to the Batchelor ratio. In fluid dynamics, the Batchelor ratio describes the size of vortices and droplets before they dissipate in a chaotic fluid environment.
However, it is important to note that Kolorovov and Batchelor developed these laws decades after Van Gogh’s death, indicating that the artist’s insight did not stem from knowledge of fluid dynamics but rather from general observations of the sky and natural phenomena.
Similarly, the association between energy and the color yellow can also be considered coincidental, reflecting the artist’s creative intuition.
Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” undeniably evokes powerful associations with natural phenomena.
Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” undeniably evokes powerful associations with natural phenomena.
In 2020, researchers named a newly discovered spider species after the painting, inspired by the resemblance between the colorful swirls and the glowing spots on the spider’s body.
In 2021, microbiologists also drew striking parallels between the symbolic swirls in the painting and mutant bacterial colonies.
More recently, in May 2024, images captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from Jupiter revealed that the swirling storms in the planet’s northern hemisphere bore a striking resemblance to Van Gogh’s brushstrokes.
These swirling clouds are also associated with turbulent forms in Jupiter’s atmosphere, similar to those on Earth.
