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Primary sourcePaintingSeptember 1888

Starry Night Over the Rhône

Vincent van Gogh · September 1888

A night scene van Gogh painted on the banks of the Rhône at Arles, exhibited in his lifetime alongside Irises.

Painted by van Gogh on site in Arles and exhibited during his lifetime with his painting Irises.

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Painting of a night river scene with swirling blue sky filled with glowing yellow stars, a bridge with lit lamps, reflections of golden light on dark water, and two figures standing on the bank in the lower right.
Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night Over the Rhône, 1888. Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

About this source

What it is

Starry Night Over the Rhône is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, made in September 1888 on the bank of the Rhône near the Yellow House in Arles. It is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Why it matters

Van Gogh described the painting in detail in a letter to his brother Theo, explaining his colour choices for the sky, water, and gaslight. It was exhibited in 1889 at the Société des Artistes Indépendants, displayed by Theo alongside Irises. The work shows van Gogh merging what he actually saw with an imagined view of the stars, blending observation and invention, and anticipates his later famous painting The Starry Night.

Look closer

  • What do the reflections and lights suggest about the time and mood of the scene?
  • Why might van Gogh have combined two different views of the sky into one painting?
  • What does his letter to Theo add that the painting alone cannot show?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Vincent van Gogh on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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