The Starry Night Over The Rhone (Vincent van Gogh, Post-impressionism)

The Starry Night Over the Rhone was painted at a spot on the banks of river which was only a minute or two's walk from the The Yellow House on the Place Lamartine which Van Gogh was renting at the time. The night sky and the effects of light at night provided the subject for some of his more famous paintings, including the later canvas from Saint-Remy, The Starry Night.

The challenge of painting at night intrigued Van Gogh. The vantage point he chose for "Starry Night Over the Rhone" allowed him to capture the reflections of the gas lighting in Arles across the glimmering blue water of the Rhone. In the foreground, two lovers stroll by the banks of the river. Here his stars glow with a luminescence, shining from the dark, blue and velvety night sky. Dotted along the banks of the Rhone houses also radiate a light that reflects in the water and adds to the mysterious atmosphere of the painting.

Van Gogh's Other Works