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No physical turbulence was discovered inside Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. A 2024 Physics of Fluids study found statistical patterns in the painting’s whirling forms and luminance that the authors compared with theories used to describe turbulent flows. That interpretation has since been challenged in published commentary, so the responsible conclusion is that the image may resemble some turbulence-related scaling—not that the canvas contains, records, or proves a turbulent atmosphere.
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What the 2024 study actually analyzed
Yinxiang Ma, Wanting Cheng, Shidi Huang, François G. Schmitt, Xin Lin and Yongxiang Huang examined visible structures in The Starry Night. Their analysis focused on the large swirling forms and on the distribution of brightness, or luminance, across the image. They treated luminance as a passive scalar—a quantity transported by a flow in turbulence theory—and compared the image statistics with ideas associated with Richardson–Kolmogorov cascades and Batchelor’s theory of scalar turbulence.
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The study therefore made a comparison between measured patterns in a two-dimensional artwork and mathematical descriptions developed for fluid systems. It did not measure moving air, velocity, pressure or temperature on the canvas, and it did not show that an atmospheric flow physically existed when van Gogh painted.
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Why the number 14 appears in coverage
An American Institute of Physics news release says the researchers examined 14 main whirling shapes. That is a reported count of selected major forms in their analysis, not a count of every swirl, wave or brushstroke in the painting.
What “hidden turbulence” means in this context
In fluid mechanics, turbulence refers to irregular, multiscale motion in a moving fluid. A painting can contain spatial patterns whose numerical relationships look similar to patterns measured in turbulent flows, but visual similarity and physical identity are different claims.
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The most discussed clue is a spectral slope near −5/3, a value associated with a classic inertial-range scaling in Kolmogorov’s theory. Finding a similar slope in an image can be interesting evidence for a mathematical analogy. By itself, it does not establish that the pictured subject is turbulent, that the artist had measured turbulence, or that the image follows the full set of assumptions behind the fluid theory.
Why later publications dispute the headline
The 2025 Journal of Turbulence critique
A 2025 article in the Journal of Turbulence directly challenged the 2024 paper. Its abstract characterizes the original claim as an assertion of “hidden turbulence” and says the critique finds the conclusions—including the proposed extension of Kolmogorov’s theory—unfounded. This is a published scientific objection to the inference, not merely a disagreement about artistic interpretation.
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The meteorological distinction
A separate 2025 discussion in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society makes the evidentiary issue explicit: a spectral slope close to −5/3 does not, on its own, demonstrate that a painting depicts turbulence as fluid mechanists understand it. Nor does it prove that van Gogh had a uniquely accurate ability to represent turbulent motion. Other processes and artistic choices can produce similar statistics, and an image lacks the dynamical measurements normally used to identify a turbulent flow.
How the studies differ
| Publication | Image features or question | Model or argument | What it supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Physics of Fluids paper | Whirling structures and luminance in The Starry Night; the study reports 14 main whirling shapes | Richardson–Kolmogorov cascade ideas and Batchelor’s scalar-turbulence framework | A reported statistical resemblance between image patterns and turbulence-related scaling |
| 2025 Journal of Turbulence article | Reassessment of the original hidden-turbulence claim | Critique of the original inference and its proposed theoretical extension | The critique says the 2024 conclusions are unfounded |
| 2025 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society discussion | Meaning of a spectral slope near −5/3 in a painting | Distinguishes a spectral match from evidence of a physical turbulent flow | A numerical resemblance alone cannot identify what the painting depicts |
| 2019 paper | Earlier question of whether The Starry Night can be characterized as turbulent | Earlier analysis predating the 2024 headline | Shows the question has a history; it does not settle the later dispute |
Is The Starry Night turbulent?
The safest answer depends on what “turbulent” means. If it means that the painted scene contains a real, measurable turbulent atmosphere, there is no such discovery: the work is a static image. If it means that selected image statistics resemble relationships used in turbulence research, the 2024 authors reported that resemblance. Whether those statistics justify the stronger interpretation remains contested by the 2025 publications.
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This distinction also explains why headlines can be misleading. “Hidden turbulence” compresses a qualified image-analysis result into language that sounds like a physical finding. The evidence supports a debate over pattern analysis, not a settled revelation about the sky in the painting.
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Van Gogh’s energetic brushwork can suggest wind, light and motion, and viewers may reasonably connect the spirals to observed skies or imagined atmospheric movement. Co-author Yongxiang Huang was quoted by Ars Technica saying, “It reveals a deep and intuitive understanding of natural phenomena.” That is Huang’s interpretation of van Gogh’s visual insight, not an independent measurement or proof of turbulence.
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Image statistics cannot by themselves recover the artist’s intent. They also cannot distinguish conclusively among physical observation, artistic stylization, compositional design and patterns introduced by the painting process. Those questions require art-historical evidence in addition to mathematical analysis.
How to read the claim without overstating it
- Established: the 2024 team analyzed visible forms and luminance in the image and compared their statistics with turbulence theories.
- Reported by the study and AIP: 14 main whirling shapes were examined.
- Disputed: whether the measured resemblance warrants calling the result hidden turbulence or extending Kolmogorov theory.
- Not demonstrated: a moving fluid inside the artwork, a unique scientific ability on van Gogh’s part, or a consensus that the painting depicts turbulence.
Bottom line for readers
The intriguing part of the story is the attempt to connect an iconic painting’s visual organization with quantitative physics. The headline goes too far when it turns that connection into a discovery. The Starry Night may contain image patterns that look turbulence-like under particular statistical analyses, but later published critiques argue that this is insufficient evidence for actual turbulence or for the original paper’s broader conclusions.
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