Thursday, August 5, 2010

Cafe terrace at night


Cafe terrace at night
Originally uploaded by t-cat1
It can be quite startling; when you have admired a painting for years and then you suddenly find the scene the artist painted in real life, often decades or centuries later.
I had such a revelation recently in Arles, where I found "La cafe de nuit" - Vincent Van Gogh's "Night Cafe" depicted in "Cafe terrace at night"

On this beautiful, balmy June night there weren't as many stars in the night sky as when Vincent painted it, (September 1888) there are now street lights and cars cruise down the adjacant street.

Nevertheless, It was beautiful, and I drew in a sharp breath of excitement and recognition. I waited for the night sky to set in so I could try and photograph the cafe from the angle he had painted it. Here is my best attempt....

Life is beautiful sometimes....
t-cat x

3 comments:

  1. I would say a very successful attempt!
    Thanks for sharing the picture and the feeling of excitement.

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  2. Thank you for the compliment Frida; coming from you, an artist, who bears the name of an artist it truly means something

    t-cat x

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  3. I love this post. It's phenomenal to think - all that history, all the unbelievable talent that's come before us. So inspiring. Van Gogh's paintings delight the heart, his play with light and the golden palate he used. Magic! x

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