FREE ESSAY ON CAFE AT NIGHT

CAFE AT NIGHT

Cafe at Night
By Vincent Van Gogh
I have chosen to write my paper on painting titled "Cafe at Night" by Vincent Van Gogh.
Since this picture is a very popular one, I might have seen it a couple times before I
actually decided to write about it. I feel warmth, streaming out of it, when I take a
look at the "Cafe at Night". This comfortable feeling made me select this artwork.
This picture shows a cobbled street, probably somewhere in the south of Europe, at night.
In the very front there is just the street, and in the left corner there is the edge of a
building that is painted in dark blue. It looks like there is no light coming out of this
building, and it does not seem to be very important for the view, Van Gogh caught for
this image. Next to the dark building another one is shown. This building is wider and
thus reaches more in the back and middle of the whole painting. Different yellow shades
light the building up which shows that it is busy, people are most likely in there. Three
windows, painted in a darker yellow, or orange, make the viewer feel like warm light is
streaming out of them. An awning holds the light and turns all the chairs and tables,
standing in front of the building, in a lit up atmosphere. There are some people sitting
at several tables, a waiter is taking an order. A few tables are placed on the street,
they are standing apart from the others. In front of the cafe, where a few tables seem to
be set out of order, a little boy is passing by. He seems to play with a kind of yoyo as
he walks by. Taking look more to the right, a couple is standing ahead of a strip of
buildings that is located at the other side of the road. Apart from a window behind the
couple, the entire strip is dark. This window is not as light as the cafe on the other
side, but it implies movement behind it. Looking along the building strip, the fa?ade is
getting darker as one's view is moving to the very back of the strip, or the middle of
the painting. One can imagine another couple, way back on the road and a person, walking
with a dog, just reaching the very edge of the cafe coming out of the dark. Just above
the cafe is another building showing up, covering the dark sky, the strip on the other
side of the road does not seem to reach that high. Those houses allow the viewer to have
a look at the incredible dark and also clear sky that is sprinkled with stars.
"Cafe at Night" caught my eye, because I feel a certain relation to it. I would not be
able to say why, but I am very sure that van Gogh painted a scene in southern Europe.
When you have ever been in the south of France, living the style the people down there
live, you may be able to understand why I feel that comfortable with this piece of
artwork. It seems like somehow I am set back into my vacation to France couple years ago.
Although it is already dark, a lot of people are still sitting outside in a cafe or
elsewhere relaxing and having conversations with each other. It is probably already a
little bit chilly, so that ladies have sweaters around their shoulders and gentlemen
unroll their shirts, but nobody lets this coolness destroy such a wonderful summer
night.
As you can see by the little story, I just told you about a nice summer night in the
south Europe, this picture is not just showing a cafe at night for me. Reminders of few
certain nights are crossing my mind when I look at Van Gogh's artwork. Reminders that I
do not want to miss, because they take me back to friends I once had, or still have and
miss over here, in the United States of America.