Gauguin (3) Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Description of Paul Gauguin’s painting "Night Café in Arles".

During his stay in the south of France, in Arles, Gauguin produced some worthwhile works. He came here after being invited by Van Gogh. This creative duo of famous artists gave the world paintings similar in conception. The canvases depicted the station café in Arles.

Gauguin painted his "Night Café in Arles" without losing his artistic identity. The work of 1888 is relevant to its time. The feelings invested by the author in this painting will become clear even now, a century later.

In the foreground we see the figure of a woman. It is the wife of the owner of the establishment - Mrs. Ginu. She is sitting, leaning on her arm, obviously bored. On the white tabletop stands a half-drunk shot glass and a bottle. On the canvas Paul Gauguin has outlined bright strips of color that divide the painting into different compositional plans. The plan closest to the viewer is painted in white. The middle of the picture is defined by green. There is no one here except the pool table and the cat sitting under it. The upper plane of the canvas is painted red. It shows the visitors of the cafe. They seem to merge into a single crowd, covered by the same mood.

The artist has depicted several familiar faces. This is Rulen the letter carrier, a man with a beard, sitting at the right table in the company of three ladies. At the left table sits a soldier in a red beret. Next to him is a sleepy café regular.

Gauguin deliberately wants to show the differences between the lone woman in the foreground and the people in the distance. He even adds a long streak of gray smoke between them. Mrs. Ginou seems slightly tired, completely disinterested in the other visitors. Her image against their backdrop looks dignified and restrained.

The French artist used bold lines to draw all the objects in the picture. This gave expressiveness to the subject.

The painting is in the Pushkin Museum of Art in Moscow.