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Starry Night Over the Rhône
Vincent van Gogh · Post-Impressionism & Neo-Impressionism
- Artist
- Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
- Date
- 1888
- Dimensions
- 72.5 x 92 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France
Starry Night Over the Rhône shows the river at Arles on a clear September night. Above the dark blue water, the Great Bear sparkles in the sky, while the gas lamps of the town cast long golden reflections across the river. A couple strolls along the bank in the foreground.
A closer look
Van Gogh painted the scene outdoors at night, a real challenge in an age before electric light; he was fascinated by the problem of painting darkness with colour. The sky is a deep, luminous blue, not black, and the stars are rendered as small bursts of yellow and white. The reflections of the gas lamps are painted with vertical dashes that seem to quiver on the water. It is calmer and closer to observation than the swirling Starry Night he painted the following year.
More by Vincent van Gogh
In this gallery
The Potato Eaters
The Red Vineyard at Arles
Café Terrace at Night
Portrait of Dr Gachet
Van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles
A Wheatfield, with Cypresses
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe
Sunflowers
The Starry Night
Irises
Wheatfield with Crows
Almond Blossom
Wheat Field with Cypresses