Ever wanted to put yourself in the picture? It was evening and the sky was precisely the deep Prussian Blue that Van Gogh portrayed in his painting of “the Café Terrace at Night”. The lights under the awning reflected warmly in the wine glasses as we toasted our meal and our time in Province. It was Autumn in Arles, and the smell of lavender mingled with the delicious food smells. It hadn’t changed much since Vincent (yes we’re on first name terms now) painted the café at around the same time of year in 1888.
[photographed by the author]
In those days, the café terrace was lit by gas lamps beneath the awning, as the evening brought out the vibrant stars. Van Gogh painted it as a companion piece to his Night Café, in which he depicted the interior of the café on Place Lamartine, which was known as the Café de la Gare.
Van Gogh wrote about this painting to his sister Willemien Van Gogh on 14 September 1888:
“I was interrupted precisely by the work that a new painting of the outside of a café in the evening has been giving me these past few days. On the terrace, there are little figures of people drinking. A huge yellow lantern lights the terrace, the façade, the pavement, and even projects light over the cobblestones of the street, which takes on a violet-pink tinge. The gables of the houses on a street that leads away under the blue sky studded with stars are dark blue or violet, with a green tree. Now there’s a painting of night without black. With nothing but beautiful blue, violet and green, and in these surroundings the lighted square is coloured pale sulphur, lemon green.12 I enormously enjoy painting on the spot at night. In the past they used to draw, and paint the picture from the drawing in the daytime. But I find that it suits me to paint the thing straightaway. It’s quite true that I may take a blue for a green in the dark, a blue lilac for a pink lilac, since you can’t make out the nature of the tone clearly. But it’s the only way of getting away from the conventional black night with a poor, pallid and whitish light, while in fact a mere candle by itself gives us the richest yellows and oranges.”
– [Source: www.vangoghletters.org].
There were other cafés nearby on the plaza that once formed part of the Roman Forum here, and over the ten days we stayed there, we sampled most of them. Here, the steak was tasty, and the Beaujolais formed the perfect accompaniment, along with the traditional baguette. A cool wind blew, but we didn’t mind. The occasional scooter clattered past on the cobblestones – damp after a recent shower – leaving an oily smoke in its wake. It is a real place. Yet somehow the damp ground added vibrancy to the colours, rendering the scene more painterly. I can see why he chose this town, this part of the south of France. It is the light.
[source: photographed from the plaque — by the author]
The cafe itself — as you can see — is still there on the Place du Forum in Arles, just down the road from the Roman Amphitheatre, which is still in use today for concerts and bullfights. Sharon and I had a wonderful dinner there [very French] — with a nice carafe of wine. It was a magic evening 🙂
Interestingly, the layout of stars in this night scene is so closely observed that astronomers have been able to pinpoint when the constellation Aquarius (the best match) was visible at that angle, showing that the painting was done from observation at around 11.00 pm on 16th or 17th September 1888.
As for the actual painting? You can find Café Terrace at Night on display at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands.
The original café is not that one, the original was destroyed by bombings in WWII.
The actual café Van Gogh painted (originally the Café de la Gare or Café de la Terrasse depending on the specific night scene) was located near Place Lamartine, close to where the artist lived in the Yellow House
Please correct if I´m wrong. Thank you
You may be thinking of another of his paintings, such as the interior (with the pool table) he painted of the Cafe de la Gare on Place Lamartine. This was indeed called the ‘Night Café’. However, the painting of a cafe exterior with stars called ‘Cafe Terrace at Night’, was on the Place du Forum. The Yellow House itself was blown up by retreating German soldiers near the end of WWII. But Van Gogh refers to the café as being the one on the Place du Forum, and there is a plaque next to it showing the supposed spot where Van Gogh stood to paint it. Indeed, Van Gogh mentioned the Cafe Terrace painting in a letter written to Eugène Boch on 2 October 1888, writing he had painted:
“…a view of the café on place du Forum, where we used to go, painted at night”.
When first exhibited, the painting was called ‘Café le Soir’ (Coffeehouse in the evening). Similar plaques mark other sites where he painted, so my assumption was that the Tourim office had done their research in conjunction with the Van Gogh Institute Space, located in the former hospital that the artist also painted. That said, the Van Gogh Bridge over the canal is in a different location from when Van Gogh painted it, and the bridge is not the original one, but a contemporary one of the same design from further down the canal, following a widening project undertaken after Van Gogh’s demise. So, clearly, Arles is to some extent, cashing in on the artist’s fame, and perhaps is taking some reasonable artistic licence. Indeed the cafe was renovated in 1990 to more closely resemble the painting. That said, the atmosphere was excellent, and the surviving locations are well preserved, as are the Greek theatre and Roman Amphitheatre, the latter being still in use for concerts and local cultural events.
Wonderful photos. We visited the beautiful township of Aries in 2006 and remember the beautiful village with it’s very steep approaches of cobblestones and that vehicles were not allowed at any time. We visited as part of a coach trip…..but didn’t have the time to visit the restaurant which was famous for the visiting artists to pay for their meal with one of their paintings. A magical part of our holiday. So enjoyed your colourful photos and remember the restaurant was fully booked.
Thanks Meryl – a fascinating place – we spent 10 days there. We hired an apartment right opposite the Roman Amphitheatre and I spent quite a bit of time re-tracing Van Gogh’s steps, taking a number of photographs from where he painted.
The cafe is not open any longer and the building is for sale.
Thanks for the update
Jerry….loved this particular blog post and also, found it very interesting to read the portion of the letter from VanGough to his sister. Looking forward to more posts along these lines, especially as I’ve just been enjoying some delightful times in some of the beautiful villages in France……whilst reading the above, I found myself there in the exact spot, seeing the light mist of rain on the cobblestones, hearing the muted conversations of the people around me and so enjoying the wonderful time ‘off away in my mind’…..thankyou.
Thanks Susan 😀 Yes there are more to come… I took several ‘then and now’ photos of places painted by Van Gogh in and around Arles, so definitely more to come 😀
Oh, how much I like this painting and your photo – I know it already from your reports of the pilgrims walk.
Thanks Anneliese 🙂 Yes it was pretty special!