The Night Café (original French title: Le Café de nuit) is an oil painting executed on industrial primed canvas of size 30 (French standard) in Arles in September 1888, by Vincent van Gogh. Its title is inscribed lower right beneath the signature.
The interieur depicted is the Café de la Gare, 30 Place Lamartine, run by Joseph-Michel and his wife Marie Ginoux, who in November 1888 posed for Van Gogh's and Gauguin's Arlésienne; a bit later, Joseph Ginoux evidently posed for both artists, too.
Already in August Van Gogh told his brother Theo:
In the first days of September 1888, Van Gogh sat up for three consecutive nights to paint the picture, sleeping during the day. Little later, he sent the water-colour, copying the composition and again simplyfing the colour scheme on order to meet the simplicity of Japanese woodblock prints.
Van Gogh wrote many letters to his brother Theo van Gogh, and often included details of his latest work. In one of the letters he describes this painting:...
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