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 Café
Terrace at Night or The Café Terrace on the Place
du Forum. Vincent van Gogh. Arles, France 1888.
Shortly after a stay in Paris where van Gogh came into contact
with Impressionism and artists like Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas,
he moved to Arles. Arles had already inspired his contemporaries
Gauguin and Cezanne and its effect on van Gogh was no different.
While in Arles he created over 200 pieces and wrote over 200 letters.
It was the most prolific period in his life. Though his earlier
pieces tended to be somber and use more earth tones, his Arles work
was full of color. An absolutely beautiful piece of work, Café
Terrace is the first painting in which van Gogh used a starry background
– the most famous of which being “Starry Night”.
Arles was (and remains) a beautiful city full of city sights
and surrounded by natural beauty. Though Arles sits on the
Rhone River in the South of France (a beautiful site in
its own right), Van Gogh was especially intrigued by the
Provencal landscapes. He was undoubtedly influenced by the
sights which surrounded him, and whilst a modern-day visitor
might attend the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival,
visiting the monuments, van Gogh was inspired by the old
buildings and cafés. The town remains full of both
modern and ancient history including the Church of St. Trophime,
The Roman Theatre, and the Thermes of Constantine.
Van Gogh was especially impressed with this because he painted
it on the spot rather than waiting for daytime. He wrote to his
sister about the painting shortly after its completion. “Here
you have a night painting without black, with nothing but beautiful
blue and violet and green and in this surrounding the illuminated
area colours itself sulfur pale yellow and citron green. It amuses
me enormously to paint the night right on the spot. Normally, one
draws and paints the painting during the daytime after the sketch.
But I like to paint the thing immediately.”
Purchase
a print of van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Arles at Night
I often think that the night is more alive and more richly
colored than the day. - Vincent van Gogh
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