In “The Starry Night,” Vincent van Gogh was not just capturing a night sky—he infused it with memories and emotions the view from his asylum evoked in him. The vision for #StarryNight took place at night, inspired by the view from his window at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy, in southern France, where the artist sought reprieve from his mental illnesses. #VanGogh incorporated studies he made elsewhere into the painting, creating an emotional language to night and nature that took

See “The Starry Night”—and all starry nights—differently when astrophysicist Janna Levin brings her celestial expertise to Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece in this episode of “The Way I See It.” Levin, in conversation with senior curator of Drawing and Prints Jodi Hauptman, explains how certain features of the night sky, including the “turbulent air,” the light from a star, and the planet Venus, are rendered visible by Van Gogh’s brush. She remarks, “People who observe the world, whether they are