Cafe Terrace at Night (1888)

Vincent van Gogh prints bring some of the most loved paintings in the world into your home. In little more than a decade, the Dutch painter turned sunflowers, wheat fields, night skies and his own small bedroom into pictures full of color and movement. Our collection gathers more than 280 art prints of his work, from the dark farm scenes of Nuenen to the bright orchards and starry nights of Provence.

About Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Zundert, in the south of the Netherlands. Before he became a painter he worked as an art dealer for Goupil & Cie in The Hague, London and Paris. He studied briefly at the academies in Brussels and Antwerp and took lessons from the painter Anton Mauve.

His early paintings, made in Holland, are dark and earthy, full of peasants, weavers and farm work. In 1886 he moved to Paris, where his younger brother Theo worked as an art dealer. There he met artists such as Émile Bernard, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Georges Seurat, discovered Japanese woodblock prints, and his palette brightened almost overnight.

In 1888 he left for Arles in the south of France. Paul Gauguin joined him at the Yellow House that October, but the stay ended in December after a breakdown in which Van Gogh cut off part of his own ear. In May 1889 he entered the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy, where he kept painting the olive groves and cypresses around him.

He spent his last months in Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris, and died there on 29 July 1890, aged 37, after years of mental illness and poverty. Theo supported him throughout. He produced about 2,100 works, including some 860 oil paintings, most of them in his final two years.

Style and Subjects

Look for thick, visible brushstrokes that swirl, ripple and pile up on the canvas, especially in his sunflowers and cypresses. In Arles his palette filled with yellow, ultramarine and mauve, and he liked to set complementary colors side by side, such as blue against orange, so each one looks stronger.

His subjects are everyday things: flowers in a vase, worn boots, a café at night, the local postman, wheat fields under a big sky. Japanese woodblock prints, which he collected, shaped many of his compositions, and he made his own versions of works by the French painter Jean-François Millet, whose sowers he painted again and again.

Famous Works

• The Starry Night (1889), Museum of Modern Art, New York. A sleeping village under a sky of swirling stars, painted in Saint-Rémy.
• Sunflowers (1888), National Gallery, London. Yellow blooms in thick paint, painted in Arles; another version is in Munich.
• The Potato Eaters (1885), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. A peasant family shares a meal by lamplight.
• Café Terrace at Night (1888), Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo. A glowing yellow café terrace sits under a deep blue night sky in Arles.
• The Night Café (1888), Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. The inside of an all-night café in Arles, under hard lamplight.
• The Bedroom (1888), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. His room in the Yellow House, in bright, flat colors; later versions are in Chicago and Paris.
• Irises (1889), J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Blue irises crowd a garden bed at the Saint-Rémy asylum.
• Wheatfield with Crows (1890), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Crows rise over a golden field under a stormy sky, from his last summer.

Decorating with Van Gogh Prints

His sunflowers, still lifes of fruit and flowering orchards are warm and cheerful, which makes them a natural fit for kitchens, dining rooms and breakfast nooks. His blossoms and Irises suit bedrooms.

The night scenes, The Starry Night, Café Terrace at Night and Starry Night Over the Rhône, pair deep blue with glowing yellow and make a strong focal point above a sofa or in a hallway. In a study with wood furniture, the earthy browns of his Dutch period feel calm and grounded. His wheat fields and olive groves suit living rooms in country or Mediterranean-style homes.

FAQ

What art movement was Vincent van Gogh part of?

Van Gogh was a Post-Impressionist. His bold color and brushwork later inspired the Fauves and the German Expressionists.

What is Van Gogh's most famous painting?

The Starry Night, painted in June 1889 at Saint-Rémy, is usually named as his best-known work. Sunflowers and Café Terrace at Night are close behind.

Where can I see original Van Gogh paintings?

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam holds the largest collection, and the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo has the second largest. Major works also hang in New York, London, Los Angeles and Paris.

What makes Van Gogh's style recognizable?

Thick, energetic brushstrokes you can follow across the canvas, and bold color, often yellows against blues, used on ordinary subjects.

How many paintings did Van Gogh make?

He made about 2,100 artworks in just over ten years, including around 860 oil paintings. Most date from his last two years.

Related Artists

• Paul Gauguin — painted alongside Van Gogh at the Yellow House in Arles in late 1888
• Émile Bernard — one of the young painters he befriended in Paris
• Jean-François Millet — the painter of peasant life whose sowers and reapers Van Gogh copied many times
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec — part of his circle of young painters in Paris
• Georges Seurat — the Pointillist painter whose dotted technique Van Gogh borrowed in Paris