van Gogh-Terrace of a Café at
Night (Place du Forum)
Sept.1888. Oil on canvas, 80.7 x 65.3
cm. Kröller-Müller Museum; Café Nuit,
Arles. Place du Forum
Vincent van Gogh often used a starry sky in his paintings, but this one
was special. Even though he didn’t sign the painting, it’s undoubtedly his
work because he described it in detail in the letters to his sister. This
is the first painting where he used a starry background, but after that,
he painted a few other works that featured a sky filled with stars. In Café
Terrace at Night, the constellations are depicted with such fidelity that
scientists were able to precisely date the creation of the painting
to September 16-17, 1888.
