Paris and Arles · 1887 -1888

From Paris to Arles, Van Gogh transforms coffee into a laboratory of modern life: solitude, artificial light, expressive color and nocturnal sociability collide without resolving.

Vincent van Gogh painted cafes at a decisive moment in his career. In Paris in 1887, he frequented the Tambourin café, boulevard de Clichy, run by Agostina Segatori. His portrait of the owner combines Japanese decor, drinks and modern pose; Coffee table with absinthe on the contrary isolates a glass and a carafe in a tight framing where the human presence becomes indirect. In Arles in September 1888, the café changed scale and color. In Café Terrace in the evening, the deep blue of the sky opposes the yellows of the gas without recourse to nocturnal black. The cobblestones lead the eye towards a lively square, while the stars give the ordinary scene a cosmic breadth. The Night Café shows the interior of the Café de la Gare run by Joseph and Marie Ginoux. Billiards, lamps, red walls and yellow-green floors construct a deliberately unstable perspective. Van Gogh then describes a place capable of expressing human passions by complementary color contrasts. These works therefore do not constitute a simple chronicle of the establishments frequented by the artist. They explore isolation among the public, the effect of artificial light and emotional power of color. Faithful reproduction must preserve the intensity of yellows, reds, greens and blues, the visible direction of the keys and the expressive perspectives that give each place its climate psychological. The "Cafés de Van Gogh" selection notably compares Le Café de nuit - Vincent van Gogh and Terrasse du café le soir - Vincent van Gogh. His reading favors light.

Van Gogh's café is at once a refuge, a social scene and an echo chamber: the color says what the characters do not formulate.