(c) Distributed by Image Conscious

Artist: van Gogh
Medium: Poster
Size: 31 1/4" x 23 1/2"
.... ....79 x 60cm

Item #: 1711
Name: Cafe Terrace
Price Unframed: $20.00
Price Framed: $70.00

About this painting...
Van Gogh painted this picture as a night scene, which makes one think of his very famous, Starry Night, which is a night scene as well. His use of color is intriguing, because there is no black used. One usually thinks of night as being black. Of this painting, he wrote: ". . . here there is a night picture without any black, nothing but beautiful blue and violet and green, and in those surroundings the lighted square is colored sulphur yellow and limey green. . . I really enjoy doing a painting on the spot at night."

This cafe is located in Arles, where Van Gogh completed many works. He had moved there in 1888, because he felt the people were "more artistic than in the north in their own persons and manner of life." He had previously resided in Paris. He had stayed in a rooming house above this cafe, and had painted a picture previously of the inside view of the cafe.

The stars are painted by dabbing paint on with a brush. And in a night scene, such as this, one would expect to see many shadows, however, Van Gogh was influenced greatly by Japanese woodblock prints, and from those, he borrowed their characteristic flat areas of color, lack of shadows and use of perspective. It is the admiration he had for Japanese art work which contributes to his popularity in Japan.