"Night Cafe" by Van Gogh

Art gallery is a place I try to avoid wherever I go, which partly explains why I didn't go to Yale University Art Gallery until today.

The moment I stepped into the Art Gallery, I was amazed by the tranquility.  There were visitors but they were very quiet and in good order.  I brought a cup of tea with me and was kindly reminded I could put in the locker.  The receptionist at the information desk offered me a quarter coin to use the locker.  

There were special exhibition, sculptures, modern decorations, oil paintings... Security personnel in uniforms stood straight, watching over any behavior that might destroy the atmosphere for enjoyment. I walked up and down and quickly finished half of the gallery without knowing where I was in the building.

Then I came to the Indo-Pacific Art.  A beautiful girl was explaining something to a tour group.  She had a beautiful smile and sweet voice.  I couldn't help standing behind them and listening to her interpretation.  They were trying to figure out the decoration of a work and the tour members actively reported that they saw women, animals, vines... in the work.

 That was interesting, far more interesting than I looked blankly at those masterpieces for a while and had to admit that I practically saw nothing.  The tour guide invited me to join them.  I was very happy and carried a folding chair to follow them.  Along the way, Carly,the girl, told us what to expect, how to find the originality of different artistic work, the special settings of various exhibition section, stairwalls inside the building.

Then, we came to this oil painting.  It was named "Night Cafe", depicting the interior of a cafe in the 19th century. There was a half-curtained doorway in the center background leading, presumably, to more privare quarters.  And a waiter stands to one side of a billiard table near the center of the room, facing the viewer. Before pointing out the best part of the painting, Carly let us step forward and carefully examine the oil painting.  The tour members were extremely of artistic feelings and they said the paiting was special in its texture, and most noticeably, the use of color.  Green, red, and yellow contrast each other.  There is something strange with the painting.  All the guests in the cafe are not looking at the viewers, and they seem drunk. Carly said the paiting was made for the owner of the Cafe to whom Van  Gogh owed a lot of money.  A lady from the tour group talked about her feeling. "I see a lot of green in the paiting.  Green shows jealousy.  This paiting conveys the poor economic condition of Van Gogh and the fact that he envied the cafe owner."  We all laughed.  This could be a better way of feeling the paiting, giving them our own interpretations.

The tour impressed me a lot.  I think I will spend more time visiting this Yale Art Gallery.