Ever since Van Gogh arrived in Arles, he was constantly preoccupied with the representation of "night effects". In April 1888, he wrote to his brother Theo: "I need a starry night with cypresses or maybe above a field of ripe wheat." In June, he confided to the painter Emile Bernard: "But when shall I ever paint the Starry Sky, this painting that keeps haunting me".
STARRY NIGHT OVER THE RHONE (September 1888) was one of three paintings made during the same month that incorporate the night sky and stars as fundamentally symbolic elements. He also painted Cafe Terrace at Night, and a portrait of his friend Eugene Boch which was perhaps the most symbolic of the three.
Starry Night Over the Rhone was painted at a spot on the banks of river which was only a minute or two's walk from the where Van Gogh was living at the time. The night sky and the effects of light at night provided the subject for some of his more famous paintings, including the later canvas from Saint-Rémy, The Starry Night.
Here you can see the river bank where Van Gogh set up his easel to paint the famous painting.
The challenge of painting at night intrigued Van Gogh. The vantage point he chose for "Starry Night Over the Rhone" allowed him to capture the reflections of the gas lighting in Arles across the glimmering blue water of the Rhone. In the foreground, two lovers stroll by the banks of the river. Here his stars glow with a luminescence, shining from the dark, blue and velvety night sky. Dotted along the banks of the Rhone houses also radiate a light that reflects in the water and adds to the mysterious atmosphere of the painting.
Your painting set will include an artists canvas (40 x 50 cm), double paint, a set of artists paint brushes and a free DIY frame as a gift from us. All of this will be presented in a beautiful box so you can easily gift this to your friends and family or just for you.