Starry Night Over the Rhône

Painted from the quay at Arles in September 1888, only weeks after Van Gogh arrived in the city, this canvas captures gas lamps of the town shimmering across the Rhône beside the constellation we now know as Ursa Major. In letters to his brother Theo, Vincent described working under a gas lamp night after night to seize the sparkling light. The painting entered the Musée d’Orsay collection from its predecessor, the Luxembourg.