Did Vincent van Gogh’s paintings have a connection with Bihar? Research says yes!

Vincent van Gogh is a name that everyone even remotely interested in the Arts is familiar with. He is the artist who produced the ever-famous painting ‘Starry Night’ that has today brought him to immense fame and popularity. But, what people do not know is that van Gogh never lived to see fame. Throughout his life, van Gogh suffered from mental illnesses, depression, poverty, and other problems and issues.
But, even when he was suffering from the worst of problems, he produced masterpieces that continue to inspire and amaze people today.Be it the museums that display his paintings, preserved for years, to the galleries that portray his artwork in various mediums, van Gogh has become an icon today.

‘Starry Night’ today is one of van Gogh’s most famous paintings. The swirling night sky, the moon shining bright, the lone cypress tree standing tall, and the stars giving a surreal feeling. Vincent van Gogh’s signature style of thick, expressive brushwork brings a sense of life and movement to the painting, making the sky appear as if it is moving with energy.

The colours in the masterpiece are undoubtedly a highlight. They are a mix of bold and subtle and can immediately mesmerise someone. The painting is covered in blues, yellows, browns, and greens, and they all come together to make something exceptional. The deep blues of the sky are calming, the swirling, dual-toned yellow has a sense of movement, and greens and browns become a symbol of Earth.

And in between van Gogh’s Dutch identity, and a world-famous painting, nobody would have imagined that his painting had a connection to India! How?
Well, it can't be the view as it was a scenery from his asylums’ window, it cannot be a muse as van Gogh never travelled to India, it could not even be a close friend’s depiction as he never mentioned an Indian friend! So, what would it be?
The Indian connection of ‘Starry Night’ comes from a certain pigment that was used in colouring the moon. Thats’ right! Van Gogh used the rare ‘Indian Yellow’ pigment known for its bright, glowing quality. The dual-toned moon had a rich, warm, golden hue which made it glow against the dark sky, and this glow was brought by an Indian colour.

In a study titled ‘An Investigation of Multispectral Imaging for the Mapping of Pigments in Paintings’, the authors wrote “Prussian blue was incorporated to account for the difference between modern and van Gogh’s blue paints. Four yellow pigments were selected based on spectral curve shape analysis, cadmium lemon yellow, zinc yellow, Indian yellow and earth yellow.”
It also said “The moon and stars were most likely created with Indian yellow and zinc yellow. Cadmium lemon yellow might be used to paint the yellow clouds surrounding the moon and the stars. The cypress tree might be painted with burnt sienna and Prussian blue.”

The ‘Indian yellow’ is believed to have been brought from Munger, Bihar, and was accessible to a select few people. It is said that this colour was made from the urine of cows that were fed a diet primarily of mango leaves, along with some turmeric. It was then collected, dried into solid rocks, and then turned into powder.
Although this colour isn't available anymore, back then too it was produced in small quantities. Why? Because feeding cows only mango leaves was unhealthy, and as awareness of the poor treatment of the animals grew, the production of Indian Yellow was eventually banned.