Starry Night over the Rhone - Vincent van Gogh

Starry Night over the Rhone (September 1888) is one of Vincent van Gogh's paintings of Arles at night; it was painted at a spot on the banks of river which was only a minute or two's walk from the Yellow House on the Place Lamartine which Van Gogh was renting at the time.

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. The sky is illuminated by the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear). In the foreground, two lovers stroll by the banks of the river.