Discover the Brilliance of the Café Terrace at Night

The time Vincent Van Gogh spent in Arles stands as one of the most defining and creatively rich chapters of his artistic journey. In search of relief from the crowded streets of Paris and the relentless pressure of the art world, he relocated to this quiet town in the south of France in
February 1888. Arles, with its peaceful charm, brilliant southern sunlight, and vivid natural palette, became a wellspring of inspiration for the artist. It was here that Van Gogh developed a deeper connection to color, light, and nature—while also facing some of his most difficult psychological struggles.

Many of the masterpieces he produced in Arles are among his most celebrated and influential works. In this issue’s Painting section, we take a closer look at Café Terrace at Night—a landmark piece from his Arles period and the first painting in which Van Gogh introduced his now-iconic, post-impressionist starry night sky.

In the late summer of 1888, Vincent van Gogh stood beneath the gas-lit skies of Arles, France, and painted one of his most luminous works: Café Terrace at Night. Van Gogh never signed the painting. Since he mentioned about the painting in his correspondence, art historians are certain that it was painted by him. He created the painting on location rather than from memory.

Before he began to paint, he drew a sketch in ink. Most obvious difference between this sketch and the painting is the absence of stars. Van Gogh did not use black color in this painting. Instead he relied on various shades of blue and yellow to convey the scene.

In a letter to his sister, he stated that for him, night is a richer in color than day (“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day,” he wrote to his sister Willemien. It was this philosophy that drove him to capture the bustling life of a café under a deep blue sky, without using a single drop of black paint.). According to astronomical data, the positions of the stars in the painting is accurate.

The scene glows with color: the vivid yellows of the café, the cool cobblestones, and the speckled night sky form a dramatic contrast. The composition guides the viewer’s eye along the terrace and into the background, evoking both depth and intimacy. It wasn’t just a night scene; it was Van Gogh’s attempt to express emotion through color and light.

Though The Starry Night (1889) would later eclipse it in fame, Café Terrace at Night marked the first time Van Gogh painted a starry sky, foreshadowing what would become one of his most recognizable themes. This painting was the beginning of his visual poetry about the night — not as darkness, but as a living, breathing presence full of light and color.

Today, Café Terrace at Night is housed in the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands, where it draws admirers from around the world. Meanwhile, the café in Arles still stands and has been transformed into a tribute to the painting. Now called the Café Van Gogh, it has been carefully restored to resemble the glowing terrace that Van Gogh immortalized.

Café Terrace at Night is more than a beautiful image; it is a turning point — the moment Van Gogh stepped into the night and found a new light, both on canvas and within himself.