Van Gogh set up his easel on the Place du Forum in Arles in September 1888 and painted this café terrace on the spot, at night. A large lantern floods the awning, facade and cobbles with yellow, set against a deep blue sky full of stars. It was his first starry sky, a year before The Starry Night.
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There is no black anywhere: he called it "a painting of night without black". The stars are placed accurately enough for one scholar to date the scene to about 11 p.m.
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