Vincent van Gogh: The Night Cafe

The Night Cafe is a painting executed in Arles during September 1888 Vincent van Gogh. The original title Le Café de nuit is included in the painting itself, just below the signature.

The Night Cafe shows the interior of the Cafe held by Joseph Michel and his wife Marie Ginoux in Arles. The scene happens at night, actually some 15 minutes after midnight as the clock in the back of the room indicates. The large room is typical for the nineteenth century, is lighted by gas lamps and features a pool table in the middle. Furthermore, tables and chairs. Being watched by the waiter, a couple and some few other lonely customers create a tired atmosphere.
A preliminary study for van Gogh’s Night Cafe shows the same scene but with a heavy use of the complementary colors red and green. Van Gogh himself stated about Night Cafe that he „… just finished a painting that represents the interior of a cafe at night lit by lamps. Some poor wanderers of night sleep in a corner. The room is painted red and the gas lamps cast a huge shadow of the billiard table on the floor. There are 6 or 7 different reds” in the painting. Van Gogh wanted to express with Night Cafe, that in cafe, one could ruin oneself, go insane or commit a crime.

Van Gogh’s painting Night Cafe was hailed by critics as masterpiece and is for sure one of his most famous works.