Oil on Canvas, 1888
Vincent Van Gogh
 
This oil-on-canvas currently hangs in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. It was painted at night, en plein air. Vincent Van Gogh describes the painting in great detail in a letter he wrote to his brother, Theo: “…the starry sky at last, actually painted at night, under a gas-lamp. The sky is green-blue, the water is royal blue, the areas of land are mauve. The town is blue and violet…” This piece demonstrates Van Gogh’s love of the natural world, finding beauty in mundane views, and capturing them into magnificent works of art.