Café du Nuit

(English translation: The Night Café)

Last night I watched the Dr Who episode titled "Vincent and the Doctor", in which the Doctor visits Dutch post-impressionist painter, Vincent Van Gogh, shortly before Vincent committed suicide, and when he was at his most artistically prolific. It was an excellent (and emotional) episode. The writer of the episode (Richard Curtis) and the actor playing Vincent (Tony Curran) didn't hold back in showing the effects of mental illness on Vincent; his extreme visions of the universe, both terrifying and exultant. In terms of exploring both the pain and joy of being human, I would put the episode on a par with "Father's Day", from season 1 of the new Dr Who. Both episodes made me cry, or, at the very least, get a little weepy.

On one of the walls in my flat, I have a slightly tattered print of a Van Gogh painting, Café du Nuit (which I acquired from a person who was going to throw it away!!!):



I've never studied art or art history, so, when I'm looking at works of art, I'm usually interpreting a little blind. What I mean is, that I don't always know the context in which the painting/sculpture/photograph was created. My initial interpretations may be nowhere near what the artist had in mind. (Although, I would argue that wild interpretations are part of the fun of art, as well as being something artists need to accept if they want to open their art to others).

So, in regards to Café du Nuit, I thought it was about isolation, being an outsider. When I look at the painting I feel left out; I'm gazing at the warm, orangy-glowing cafe from the cold street but I'm not allowed inside, where "acceptable" people congregate (because I'm not acceptable).
However, now that I've found out some background information about the painting, I think I'm going to have to re-interpret my interpretation.

The painting is actually one of a series of paintings, set both outside and inside the night cafe (actually cafés, there were quite a few). The night cafés, where Van Gogh sometimes stayed when he was living in Arles (in France), were places where "night-prowlers" could go if they couldn't find other lodgings (eg if they were short of cash or too "under the weather" - drunk - to be taken into more respectable establishments). Here's one of the paintings set inside one of the night café where Van Gogh stayed:

The inside of the café actually looks pretty warm and inviting, even cosy, despite being a "low-life" establishment, and despite Van Gogh wanting his painting to give the impression of the café as being a place where "one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime". I suspect it would be okay for weird loner types (such as myself) to have a drink there, and possibly, go mad - but a cosy kind of mad.
I think my original interpretation of Café du Nuit is a reflection of my own anxieties about going into places where there are gatherings of peoples, who I haven't established strong comfort levels with, which is pretty much the entire planet, with the exception of about 10 people.


[NB: The painting that I have on my wall has been given the title "Café du Nuit" by whoever made the print, hence this is why I have referred to it as such. In Wikipedia, this same painting is referred to as "Café Terrace at Night", which is actually a more accurate description. Also, in Wikipedia, "Café du Nuit", is the name given to the painting of the inside of one of the cafés (ie the second picture I posted). But when I googled "Café du Nuit", both paintings came up. So, in conclusion, I have no idea what the correct title is, of either painting.]