Sunday, January 28, 2018

Cafe Terrace at Night

Exectued in early September of 1888, also known as The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum provides such a vibrant and alive feeling. The subject is evident in which he uses to light and lines to convey it. A well lit community placed directly under patio that seems happy and conversating and filled with life and normality. The sky is animated and most of the windows are fully lit. However, once you begin to follow the oil painting towards the back, a dark evil shadow like creature is presented almost resembling that of a grim reaper. This could be interpreted as a sense of the three part life with heaven, being the sky, purgatory, being the well lit enviornment, and hell, being conveyed by the entity. The painting seems to be dominant with the heaven and purgatory side of things in hopes to portray the good side and the influence of it, although he does include the evil side creeping to portray its linger and presense, this painting definitely shows, regardless of the incident with his father, his positive and good beliefs were still evident. With the painting, due to the overwhelming colors and brightness, I feel alive and happy. With his focus on the happy and nature side of things, in contrast to the miniscule aspect of the darks side, it makes me feel hopeful and that good will always prevail.


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1 comment:

  1. Sierra HiteFebruary 11, 2018 at 8:43 PM

    Hello Daniel! I too chose to analyze this piece of Van Gogh's work. I took immediate interest to it upon finding out that it was his first piece painted with a nocturnal scene. When you mentioned the darkness looming in the background, I had to look very closely because I didn't really notice it like that when I first looked at it. I recall in the prompt that Dr. Cleworth wanted us to find a piece that we could connect religious or spiritual ideas to. I focused more on the people gathered by the café. I immediately noticed that there was one central figure in white, while the rest were in black, which I thought could be somehow significant of The Last Supper, a religious painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. Although I also believe that Van Gogh's paintings have been picked apart over the years and that maybe some people stretch their imaginations just to try to see things that no one has thought of before. I'd like to think that while Van Gogh was staying in Arles, France that maybe he just had a really peaceful night out and never wanted to forget this scene. I also think it is really interesting that this café in Arles is still standing today and people still visit it. What a treat it would be to see this iconic scene in real life. Anyways I enjoyed your ideas, and I hope some of mine intrigued you as well.

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