The Night Café

Details Oil on canvas 70.0 x 89.0 cm. Arles: 5-8 September 1888 F 463, JH 1575 New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery History Provenance Exhibitions Analysis See below The Night Café in the Place Lamartine in Arles is one of Vincent van Gogh's best known paintings from his Arles period. The work depicts the interior of the Café de la Gare, an all night tavern owned by Joseph-Michel Ginoux and his wife Marie. Van Gogh often visited brothels and disreputable drinking establishments. The desolate setting of the Café de la Gare served as an inspiration for Van Gogh who wrote of the painting to his brother, Theo: The subject matter conveys a sense of loneliness and desperation. The slouched drinkers and lone figure (the owner, Joseph-Michel Ginoux ) behind the billiard table, along with the skewed perspective and stark colouring, create a jarring and disturbing work. Van Gogh himself compared the tone of the painting as delirium tremens in full swing (Letter 534). The idea of the "The Sower" continues to haunt me all the time. Exaggerated studies like the "Sower" and like this "Night Café" usually seem to me atrociously ugly and bad, but when I am moved by something, as now by this little article on Dostoievsky, then these are the only ones which appear to have any deep meaning. As a general rule, Van Gogh only signed the works that he felt were the most well executed. In the lower right corner of this painting Van Gogh wrote "Vincent le café de nuit". Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh's friend and fellow artist, would come to live with Vincent shortly after The Night Café was painted. In fact, Gauguin himself would paint his own version . The atmosphere of the two works is quite different. In Van Gogh's version, one finds isolation and despair, while Gauguin's is more lively with a focus on Madame Ginoux. Gauguin wrote to Emile Bernard about his painting: " . . . a café that Vincent likes a lot and that I like less. At bottom it's not my sort of thing and local low life doesn't work for me. I like it well enough when others do it but it always makes me uneasy." The different flavours of both works may reflect the personalities of the two artists. Gauguin, being more sociable and outgoing, creates a lighter and more bustling atmosphere, whereas Van Gogh, troubled by his own isolation and inner torments chose to produce a more disturbing environment.1 Vincent van Gogh also produced a watercolour version of Night Café to send to his brother, Theo (shown at right). Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Amsterdam Netherlands Bernheim-Jeune Art Gallery Paris France April, 1907 Ivan Morosov Moscow Russia 1908 Acquired at the exhibition of the Golden Fleece, Moscow. Museum of Modern Art Moscow Russia Knoedler Art Gallery New York United States Stephen C. Clark New York United States 1933 or 1934 Yale University Art Gallery New Haven (Conn.) United States 1961 Stephen Carlton Clark bequest.