✨ The Starry Night — in a new light

Since my dad has been facing an overwhelming number of health issues over the past couple of years, I’ve been thinking about the things he’s loved throughout his life, particularly in art. So today, I want to share something about his favorite painting here.

Dad’s not who you would call a “fine art” kind of guy. His passions are more rooted in old, jazzy music and classic Hollywood movies. He doesn’t collect paintings or follow anything related to the visual arts. He once commented that he found Toulouse-Lautrec’s life extremely tragic and he gets a big kick out of Al Hirshfield's celeb drawings, his daughter's name (Nina) always hidden somewhere within those swooping, thin lines. 

His favorite color is Kelly Green, which happens to be the color of his favorite basketball team, the Boston Celtics. Who knows if that was fate or a happy coincidence? 

Dad doesn’t have curated opinions about art movements or theories. But ask him about Frank Sinatra? He can tell you what year and in what venue a particular recording or movie he did took place- and he knows exactly where each CD is in his racks. He used to record cassette tapes from his vinyl records, mixing and matching tracks like a teenager making mixtapes in the ’80s- except he was already a grown man by then. Believe me when I say he’s more of a music and film man. 

The one time I remember him ever pausing to name a favorite painting, was to Van Gogh’s The Starry Night.

That might be partly because Kirk Douglas, one of his favorite actors, played Van Gogh in the 1956 film, Lust for Life. Don McLean also composed a tribute song called, “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” in 1971. But honestly, I think it’s because The Starry Night is a stunning piece of work all on its own. The framed poster version has hung in our hallway for years, until I eventually moved it into his bedroom.

The Starry Night has become a popular subject for “Paint and Sip” art sessions, and my aunt, his sister Janis, happened to do one a few years ago- completely unaware that it was her brother’s favorite painting. Like I said, he’s not exactly known for being into paintings, so I wasn’t surprised she hadn’t known. When I visited Titi Janis recently and saw her version of The Starry Night, I mentioned that this was Dad’s favorite. She was surprised, touched, and eventually decided to give it to him as a gift.

Now it hangs proudly above his desktop, alongside framed family photos and a commissioned drawing by comic artist Mike DeCarlo of a scene from To Serve Man, his all-time favorite Twilight Zone episode.

I love my aunt’s take on The Starry Night. I love her swirls, the vibrancy, and the way she filled the canvas with such natural ease. I also think it’s cute that the village houses are rendered in sparse, colorful, boxy shapes. Like the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists before her, she wasn’t aiming for precise realism. This is more about color, light, and the mood or feelings it creates rather than the details it replicates. That’s the magic of it ✨️ 

And so, above my father’s desk, hangs a version of his favorite painting reimagined by his loving and talented sister Janis.