techniques

Van Gogh Colour Contrast

The colour contrast page gathers complementary colour, yellow, blue and red-green relations from Paris, Arles and the night scenes.

1887 - 1888 · 18 artworks

Van Gogh Colour Contrast

What colour contrast does in two paintings

The Night Cafe: red and green unsettle the room

In a September 1888 letter, Van Gogh describes contrasting pink, blood-red and wine-red with several greens to convey the unsettling atmosphere of The Night Cafe. Red against green is not merely a colour-wheel exercise here: the clash serves a particular interior and the feeling he wanted it to carry.

The Night Café Van Gogh Letters 677

Starry Night over the Rhone: cool water, warm lamplight

For Starry Night over the Rhone, Van Gogh describes a green-blue sky, royal-blue water and a blue-violet town, set against yellow gaslight and reflections running from red-gold to green-bronze. The cool expanse and warm lamps work against each other; that does not make blue and yellow a strict complementary pair. The contrast serves a different purpose from the charged interior of The Night Cafe.

Starry Night over the Rhône Van Gogh Letters 691

Long-tail intents

  • Van Gogh colour theory
  • Van Gogh complementary colors
  • Van Gogh palette analysis

Creative Context

Colour

Representative Artworks

Self-Portrait (Paris, dark) Self-Portrait (Paris, dark) 1886 · F178v Pere Tanguy Pere Tanguy 1887 · F363 Self-Portrait Self-Portrait 1887 · F380 Self-Portrait with Blue Background Self-Portrait with Blue Background 1887 · F356 Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat 1887 · F344 Self-Portrait with Straw Hat Self-Portrait with Straw Hat 1887 · F526 Self-Portrait with Straw Hat Self-Portrait with Straw Hat 1887 · F365v Café Terrace at Night Café Terrace at Night 1888 · F467 Self-Portrait (dedicated to Gauguin) Self-Portrait (dedicated to Gauguin) 1888 · F476 Self-Portrait Dedicated to Charles Laval Self-Portrait Dedicated to Charles Laval 1888 · F501 Starry Night over the Rhône Starry Night over the Rhône 1888 · F474 Sunflowers (fifteen) Sunflowers (fifteen) 1888 · F454 Sunflowers (twelve) Sunflowers (twelve) 1888 · F456 The Night Café The Night Café 1888 · F463 Self-Portrait (Saint-Rémy, blue swirls) Self-Portrait (Saint-Rémy, blue swirls) 1889 · F528 Self-Portrait (Saint-Rémy) Self-Portrait (Saint-Rémy) 1889 · F627 Self-Portrait with Palette Self-Portrait with Palette 1889 · F626 Sunflowers (fifteen, repetition) Sunflowers (fifteen, repetition) 1889 · F458

Narrative Nodes

1887 Pere Tanguy 1886-1889 The Self-Portraits 1888-08 The Sunflower Decoration 1888-09 Starry Night over the Rhône 1888-09 The Night Café