Post-Impressionism · 1888
Café Terrace at Night
A gas-lit café opens onto a deep blue street and starry sky. Van Gogh painted night without relying on black.
- Made
- 1888
- Style
- Post-Impressionism
- Collection
- Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
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From museum to game table
The in-game crop
The card adds paint spaces, rewards and a frame. This crop shows the artwork area used during play, without the card rails.
The short history
What happened here?
Van Gogh set up his easel in the Place du Forum in Arles and painted the scene on site. He described the yellow terrace and blue night in letters to his sister Willemien.
The steep street narrows toward the center while tables and figures fill the foreground. Strong blue and yellow create light through contrast rather than smooth shading.
This was van Gogh's first painted starry background. He made Starry Night Over the Rhône later that month and The Starry Night the following year.
Look closer
Three details worth finding
- 1A night scene made with almost no black
- 2Stars placed above the receding street
- 3Warm gaslight reflected on cobblestones
Sources
Read further
Museum records come first. Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons provide useful public background and image records.