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french third republicconcept:era modern

Starry Night over the Rhône

Oil on canvas (1888) by Vincent van Gogh. A nocturnal view of the Rhône at Arles, with star reflections in the water and gas lamps on the quay. Painted from the riverbank facing north. Distinct from the more famous Starry Night (1889). Held at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Scholarly Significance

Add Starry Night over the Rhône (1888, Musée d'Orsay) to distinguish from The Starry Night (1889, MoMA) and document Van Gogh's Arles nocturne series.

Notes

  • ·Painted September 1888 at Arles, set on the quay of the Rhône facing northeast toward the Gas Works.
  • ·Van Gogh wrote to his sister Wil about painting the night: 'The night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day.'
  • ·The couple in the foreground (added as a motif) makes the nocturne less purely cosmic than The Starry Night of 1889.
  • ·Acquired by the Musée d'Orsay in 1975 from the estate of the collector Justin Thannhauser.