World Museum Guide
#41

Most Searched Artwork #41 Worldwide

Café Terrace at Night

Vincent van Gogh · 1888 · Kröller-Müller Museum

Quick Answer

Café Terrace at Night is an oil painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, created in September 1888 in Arles, southern France. It depicts the Café de la Gare on the Place du Forum in Arles, with its awning lit by gas lamps and diners seated outside on a starry night. The painting was the first of Van Gogh's works to depict a night scene without black — he used deep blues and purples for the night sky and contrasted them with golden yellows for the café lights. It is at the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands.

Café Terrace at Night by Van Gogh — a glowing outdoor café terrace at night on a cobbled street in Arles

Public domain — Vincent van Gogh, 1888. Kröller-Müller Museum / Wikimedia Commons.

At a Glance

Artist
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
Created
1888
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
80.7 × 65.3 cm (31.8 × 25.7 in)
Location
Kröller-Müller Museum, Hoge Veluwe National Park, Otterlo

Find it at

Kröller-Müller Museum

Otterlo, Netherlands

"The painting that proved night doesn't need black — Van Gogh's colour revolution on a cobbled street"

History & Story

Van Gogh painted Café Terrace at Night in September 1888, setting up his easel on the Place du Forum in Arles at night. He wrote to his sister Wil: 'In my painting of the night café, I've tried to express the idea that the café is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime.' He worked by the light of candles attached to his hat to see his canvas.

The café depicted still exists in Arles — the Café van Gogh (formerly the Café de la Gare) on the Place du Forum, which has painted its façade to match the colours in the painting. The painting was sent to Theo in Paris and eventually passed through several collections before entering the Kröller-Müller Museum.

Why It Matters

Van Gogh made an explicit theoretical statement about this painting: 'The night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day.' He deliberately excluded black from his night palette, using instead deep blues, purples, and greens for darkness and warm yellows, oranges, and greens for light. This approach to nocturnal colour — that night is a world of deep saturated colour rather than absence of colour — was radical and enormously influential.

Key Facts & Figures

No black used: Van Gogh used no black — he painted the night sky in deep blues and greens, the shadows in purple
The café still exists: The Café de la Gare on Place du Forum in Arles is now called Café Van Gogh and has painted its façade to match the painting
Worked by candlelight: Van Gogh strapped candles to his hat to illuminate his canvas while painting outside at night
September 1888: Painted the same month as Starry Night Over the Rhône — both during his productive autumn in Arles
Stars without sky darkness: The stars are depicted as points of warm light in a blue-green sky, not against black — a deliberate choice

Common Questions About Café Terrace at Night

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