Starry Night Over the Rhône

Painting at night by the river

In September 1888, a few days after painting Café Terrace at Night, Vincent van Gogh set up his easel on the bank of the Rhône in Arles, a few minutes' walk from the Yellow House where he lived. He wanted to paint the night sky directly, by the light of the gas lamps along the quay. He wrote to his brother Theo about the blue-green sky, the Great Bear sparkling in green and pink, and the orange gaslights reflected in the water.

The stars

Above the river, the seven stars of the Great Bear, or Plough, shine against a deep blue sky. Van Gogh painted each star as a small burst of white, yellow and green, with rays radiating outward. Unlike the swirling sky of The Starry Night, painted from memory nine months later, this sky is calm and spacious, close to what he actually saw.

Detail 1Zoom to detail

Gaslight on the water

Across the river, the gas lamps of Arles glow orange and yellow, and their reflections stretch down into the dark water in long, rippling streaks. Gas lighting was still a modern wonder, and Van Gogh was fascinated by the way artificial light competed with the light of the stars.

Detail 2Zoom to detail

The boats

In the lower part of the painting, small boats are moored at the riverbank, painted in blue and green with a few strokes. They anchor the scene in the everyday life of the river port.

Detail 3Zoom to detail

The couple

In the lower right corner, a man and a woman walk arm in arm along the riverbank. They are tiny compared with the vast sky and river, but they bring a human, tender note to the scene. Van Gogh often dreamed of love and companionship, which he never found.

Detail 4Zoom to detail

A painting for an exhibition

Van Gogh sent the painting to Paris, and in 1889 it was shown at the Salon des Indépendants, one of the few times his work was exhibited publicly during his lifetime. Today it measures about 72.5 by 92 centimetres and hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, in the galleries of Post-Impressionism.

How Van Gogh painted the night

Painting at night was a challenge in 1888. Van Gogh worked by the light of the gas lamps on the quay, and he had to judge his colours in near darkness. He laid the paint on thickly, with short, directional strokes, so that the stars and reflections stand out in relief from the canvas. The deep blue sky is not a flat field: it is built from many shades of ultramarine, cobalt and Prussian blue, with touches of green near the horizon. The contrast between the cool blues and the warm yellows of the gaslight is the engine of the painting. This experiment in Arles prepared the way for The Starry Night, painted from memory the following year, and for the night skies that have become inseparable from his name.