Starry Night Over the Rhone

Gaslights along the quay of Arles cast quivering golden reflections down into the dark water of the Rhone, while overhead the constellation of the Great Bear blazes in a deep blue sky and a couple strolls arm in arm along the bank. Van Gogh painted this serene night scene a year before his more turbulent vision; here the stars glow with calm wonder. Now in the Musee d'Orsay, Starry Night Over the Rhone is the quieter forerunner of his famous Saint-Remy Starry Night, also in this collection - the same night sky, but at peace.