IDENTITY
Letter 678 — Night colour, direct night painting and a no-black strategy
Arles, 1888
Content Summary
In September 1888 at Arles, Van Gogh describes the chromatic richness of night, direct painting after dark and his aim of making a night painting without black.
CONTEXT
Topics
Night Painting, Colour, Night colour, stars, direct painting at night, no-black strategy
Materials & Pigments
Related People
Vincent van Gogh
Paintings
RESEARCH
Quotation
a painting of night without black
Research Focus
The letters articulate a key principle of Van Gogh’s night painting: darkness could be constructed through colour relationships observed and painted directly rather than through reliance on black.
Related Work / Relevance
Contextual
SOURCES & EVIDENCE
Source Type
Letter
Source
Source Edition
Vincent van Gogh — The Letters, scholarly online edition (Van Gogh Museum / Huygens ING)
Source URL
Evidence Type
Primary Source
Related Readings