Curator, Ann Temkin: When you look at Starry Night, you definitely see a night scene, but you see it through the expressive lens of this artist who knew he wanted to communicate feeling, spirit, something that went so much farther than mere description. And he knew how to use paint, he knew how to use color to make that happen.
What we know about van Gogh and Bliss is that she did not own one, but had wanted to own one.
Writer, Kate Walbert: Toward the end of her life, she was obsessed with buying a van Gogh and was actually even cutting out a few expenditures in order to get the money to do so.
There is an incredible letter from MoMA's first director, Alfred Barr. It was written in 1941, so this is now 10 years after Bliss's death. But he mentions how he was reminded of Bliss's desire to have a Van Gogh, and that a dealer had been in his office and had looked through the Bliss catalog. And then he had written to the dealer and said, "Hey, is that Starry Night still for sale?" The dealer followed up by proposing to exchange the van Gogh for three pictures from the Bliss collection.
Ann Temkin: And so, when the Museum acquired The Starry Night, this was an opportunity, in a sense, to complete her collection for her.