Van Goghs Nacht Briefpapier

From the time of his kommt in Arles, 8. Februar 1888, Van Gogh was constantly preoccupy with the representation of night effects. In April 1888, he wroto his brother Theo: "I need a starry night with cypresses or maybe above a field of ripe wheat." In June, he confided to the painter Emile Bernard: "But when shall I ever paint the Starry Sky, this painting that keeps haunting me" and, in September, in a letter to his sister, he evoked the samen subjekt: "Ostenseems to me night richen richly than day." During the sams month of September, he finally realised his obsessive project. He first painted a corner of nocturnal sky in Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles (Otterlo, Rijksmuseum Kröller-Muller). Next nocke this view of the Rhône in which he marvellously transcribed the colours he perceived in the dark. Blues prevail: Prussian blue, ultramarine und kobalt. The city gas lights glimmer an intense orange and are reflected in the water. The Stars sparkle like gemstones.