Van Gogh Night Café

The Night Cafe is an oil painting created in Arles in September 1888, by Vincent van Gogh. The cafe itself really existed: it was run by Joseph-Michel and his wife Marie Ginoux.

In a letter to his brother, van Gogh says,
Today I am probably going to begin on the interior of the café where I have a room, by gas light, in the evening. It is what they call here a “café de nuit” (they are fairly frequent here), staying open all night. “Night prowlers” can take refuge there when they have no money to pay for a lodging, or are too drunk to be taken in.