The most beautiful starry sky: Van Gogh’s masterpiece transformed into a glowing bike path

By Rita

When it comes to Dutch painters, who comes to mind? Right, it’s Van Gogh. According tothe UK’s Daily Mail, to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Van Gogh’s death, his fellow countryman — Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde — drew inspiration from his work “The Starry Night” to create this stunning and dazzling bicycle path.

▲ Van Gogh’s famous painting “The Starry Night” (Image / Wikipedia)

The “Glowing Bike Path,” which opened on November 13, is located in Van Gogh’s hometown of Brabant and is part of the over 300-kilometer “Van Gogh Cycle Route.”

▲ To mark the 125th anniversary of Van Gogh’s death, Dutch artist and designer Daan Roosegaarde created a bike path themed around “The Starry Night” (Image /Studio Roosegaarde fan page)

The path features a one-kilometer stretch of twinkling lights, made up of more than 50,000 solar-powered stones that absorb sunlight. At night, they form dazzling geometric patterns. The path also includes LED lights to ensure visibility on cloudy days when the stones can’t charge.

▲ Daan Roosegaarde reinterprets historical masterpieces through new technologies (Image /Studio Roosegaarde fan page)

“I want to create a real place where people can experience something where technology meets experience — that’s what ‘techno-poetry’ means,” said designer Roosegaarde.

Throughout the year, this “Glowing Path” will be open to the public for free. The full bike route spans 335 kilometers, and visitors can take a five-day journey to fully explore it, as the path passes by many historic sites related to Van Gogh.

▲ The “Bike Glow Path” is about one kilometer long (Image /Studio Roosegaarde fan page)

Over the course of this year, related cultural events will also be held in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.