The Night Café

Step inside the Café de la Gare in Arles, France, where Vincent van Gogh spent several sleepless nights in September 1888. The room glows with clashing reds and greens, a billiard table sits oddly in the center, and a few lonely figures slump over their drinks. Van Gogh wasn't trying to make the place look cozy. In a letter to his brother Theo, he wrote that he wanted to show the café as a place where "one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime." The harsh color combinations were his way of capturing what he called "the terrible passions of humanity."

You can spot van Gogh's signature style here, with thick brushstrokes, bold colors, and that swirling halo of light around each lamp. He actually paid for his room and board by painting the owner and this scene, since he was often short on money. What makes the picture feel so uneasy is the way the floor tilts up toward you, almost pushing you out of the room. It's not a comfortable place to linger, and that was exactly the point. Van Gogh saw beauty and sadness everywhere, even in a dingy all-night café where the broke and the weary came to escape the dark.