Masterpiece Story: Terrace of a Café at Night by Vincent van Gogh

Signature Style

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) is undeniably one of the most beloved artists in the hearts of contemporary society. It has been over 130 years since Van Gogh’s death, yet his paintings have retained a timeless appeal. Could it be that the vibrant colors and bold brushstrokes express Van Gogh’s pathos and psyche as much as they draw the viewer’s attention? Terrace of a Café at Night represents the essential Van Gogh. The work is brightly bold, but its beauty comes with an underside of sadness and isolation.

Composition

Terrace of a Café at Night is an oil on canvas measuring 80.7 by 65.3 cm. It is a nocturnal scene within the depths of a cityscape. The viewer is on the edge of a square with a café dominating the left side. The café is brightly illuminated with gas lighting which gives it brilliant hues of yellow, orange, and green. The terrace is set against the sky of deep cobalt blue and the surrounding buildings of lighter stone blue.

Linear Perspective

From the feet of the viewer flows a sea of cobblestones receding into the background. The ones at the bottom foreground of the painting are easily four times the size of the cobblestones at the rear of the square, therefore giving the illusion of a receding plane through linear perspective or, in plain terms, some depth to the scene.

This sense of depth is further enhanced by the diminutive size of the horse in the far background. The chairs and tables in the foreground are larger than the horse, although the horse should be logically much taller than the furniture. The mind thus will make sense of the discrepancy by deducing that the horse must be far behind the chairs to be visually smaller, as objects visually reduce in size as they move closer to the horizon.

Man in Yellow

Four pedestrians occupy the right midground. They walk in four directions, suggesting a wider world not captured from the viewer’s perspective. The far-left pedestrian is a figure in yellow. The figure’s back is to the viewer, and a slight black line indicates the seams of the pants. Traditionally, in 1880s France, only men wore pants. Therefore, it is assumed that a man is walking away from the viewer.

Woman in Yellow

To the man’s right is a woman, also painted in yellow. She is in profile and faces to the right. The yellow hue makes it seem as if she wears a yellow bonnet, a yellow shawl, and a yellow dress. A thick black line above her black boot implies a rising movement of the hem of her dress. Is she raising her foot to ascend the sidewalk right before her?

Man in Gray

To the woman’s right is a man clad in greenish-gray. He, like the woman, is in profile but he faces to the left. He is crossing the path of the woman in close proximity. His left foot is outstretched ahead and his right foot momentarily lingers on the sidewalk. Will his right foot brush against the skirt of the woman in yellow? If yes, will the man in grey be gentlemanly and say pardon, or will he uncouthly and unapologetically continue his wide stride? We are witnessing one of the billions of small-unnamed and quickly-forgotten social interactions happening all around the world.

Woman in Red

Farther back between the man and the woman in yellow is a woman in red facing the viewer. Her dress is solid red but with a thick black line running vertically down her front center. Perhaps this implies a long overcoat that is edged in black fur?

Nocturnal Scene

Historically, prior to Vincent van Gogh, the majority of artists used shades of black, white, and gray to depict a nocturnal scene. This color scheme suits nighttime because the latter does appear in shades of black, white, and gray. It is not a stretch of the imagination to realistically capture what is visually observed. However, Van Gogh did not paint what he visually observed more than he emotionally felt and expressed it in an abundance of color. He would see a gaslit café and shades of yellow and green mixed within the lighting. He would see gray cobblestones and see reflected hints of red and yellow. The horse takes on an eerie yellow glow as it faces the viewer.

Color Theory

Vincent van Gogh had many opinions on the placement of colors, which could be collectively styled as a color theory. One such concept under his color theory is encapsulated by an excerpt from a letter to his brother, Theo van Gogh:

Van Gogh certainly applied his color theory to the scene through the vibrant yellow and orange of the café and the bold blue of the sky. It is a beautiful cacophony of contrasts.

Geography

Van Gogh was a keen observer of his environment. He may have taken an expressionist license with coloring and shading, but he injected very tangible details into his scenes. For example, Terrace of a Café at Night is located in the Place du Forum, in Arles, France. Therefore, while the name of the café may not be easily found in modern research, it did exist and it was in a specific geographic location. It was not a creation of Van Gogh’s imagination.

Time

Farthing the sense of observational realism are the stars. Believe it or not, the stars are arranged to present precisely the night sky of September 16, 1888. Astronomical research confirms the accuracy of the star pattern. Therefore, we know Van Gogh painted at least the sky on that specific day.

Non-Fiction

Like how a photographer capturing a snapshot, Van Gogh captures a particular café in Arles, France, on the day of September 16,  1888. The figures in the square, the horse in the street, and the diners on the terrace were all there, too. The scene is not a work of fiction. It may be expressed with artistic fabrication through the expressive qualities of line, pattern, form, and color, but the subject is non-fictional. Van Gogh was a tormented soul with epileptic seizures grounded in the real world. Terrace of a Café at Night is a Van Gogh masterpiece of subjective expression that captures the essence of French Post-Impressionism.