"Night Cafe" by Van Gogh. The most depressing picture of the artist

It is difficult to imagine an artist whose lifestyle and state of mind would be so NOT combined with his paintings.

We have a stereotype. Since a person is prone to depression, excessive drinking and inappropriate actions, then obviously his paintings will also be full of intricate and depressing plots.

But it is hard to imagine brighter and more positive paintings than those of Van Gogh. What are they worth "Sunflowers", "Irises" or "The Blossom of the Almond Tree".

The painting "Night Cafe" was created in the same year as the famous "Sunflowers". This is a real cafe, which is located next to the train station in the city of Arles in the south of France.

Van Gogh moved to this city from Paris in order to “saturate” his paintings with sunlight and bright colors. He succeeded. After all, it was in Arles that he created his most striking masterpieces.

"Night Cafe" is also a vivid picture. But she, perhaps, more than others gives depression. Since Van Gogh deliberately depicted a place where "a person destroys himself, goes crazy or becomes a criminal."

Apparently, this cafe did not act in the best way for him. After all, he spent a lot of time there. Deeply understanding that he, too, is ruining himself.

So, creating this picture, he spent 3 nights in a row in this cafe, drinking more than one liter of coffee. He ate nothing and smoked endlessly. His body could hardly withstand such loads.

And as we know, once I could not stand it. It was in Arles that he had his first attack of mental illness. A disease from which he will never recover. And he will die 2 years later.

It is not known whether the station cafe actually looked like this. Or the artist added a bright color to achieve the desired effect.

So how does Van Gogh create the impression he needs?

The cafe immediately catches the eye as many as four bright lamps on the ceiling. And it happens at night, as the clock on the wall shows.

Visitors are blinded by bright artificial light. Which goes against the biological clock. Subdued light would not act so destructively on the human psyche.

The green ceiling and burgundy walls further enhance this depressing effect. Bright light and bright color is a killer combination. And if we add a lot of alcohol here, then we can say that the artist’s goal has been achieved.

Internal discord enters into resonance with external stimuli. And a weak person breaks easily - he becomes an inveterate drunkard, commits a crime, or simply goes crazy.

Van Gogh adds a few more details that enhance the depressing impression.

A vase with lush pink flowers looks awkward surrounded by a whole battery of bottles.

The tables are full of unfinished glasses and bottles. The visitors are long gone, but no one is in a hurry to clean up after them.

A man in a light suit looks directly at the viewer. In fact, in a decent society it is not customary to look point blank. But in such an institution, it seems to be appropriate.

I cannot fail to mention one fact from the life of the Night Cafe. Once this masterpiece belonged to ... Russia.

It was acquired by the collector Ivan Morozov. He loved the work of Van Gogh, so several masterpieces are still kept in Pushkin Museum и Hermitage.

But the "Night Cafe" was not lucky. The Soviet government sold the painting in the late 1920s to an American collector. Alas and ah.

Read about other masterpieces of the master in the article "Paintings by Van Gogh. 5 masterpieces of a brilliant master".

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