Van Gogh had long wanted to capture a nighttime scene, but wished to avoid the conventional dark shades typically used for such paintings. Instead, he embraced the bright gaslights of the café and infused the painting with warm yellows, oranges, greens contrasted against the deep blue of the night sky. As he wrote in a letter, "the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." The result is both recognizable yet imaginatively transformed.
Remarkably, van Gogh depicted the arrangement of stars and constellations in the sky precisely as they would have appeared in mid-September 1888. The painting can be dated to September 16th or 17th based on the position of stars like Venus. So his imaginative use of color was grounded by observational detail.
Café Terrace at Night has become one of van Gogh's most famous and influential works. His innovative approach helped inspire a new, more expressive approach to color and painting. And the work has become a widely recognized icon. The café itself still exists in Arles, a popular tourist destination. And the painting's fame lives on in popular culture through films, books, and more.
Created: September 1888
Dimensions: 80.7 cm x 65.3 cm (31.8 in x 25.7 in)
Current Location: Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter now considered one of history's most famous and influential artists. His work became widely known only after his death, and had enormous impact on 20th century art. He struggled with mental illness and remained poor throughout his life, relying financially on his brother Theo. Van Gogh produced all of his over 2,000 works in just the last decade or so of his short career from 1880-1890. His iconic paintings now rank among the most expensive ever sold.
