Famed Café Mirroring Van Gogh’s Painting Shutters Due To Legal Entanglements
Photo 149875087 © Alexander Komarov | Dreamstime.com
A slice of art history in Arles, France, has gone gray. Café la Nuit (Café at Night or Van Gogh Café), a tourist attraction famous for its striking resemblance to the setting of Vincent Van Gogh’s 1888 masterpiece Café Terrace at Night, has kept its doors closed since July 2023 due to legal issues.
While the establishment offered a window into the Post-Impressionist’s swirly world, its physical location wasn’t quite faithful to the painting. The original venue resided on Place Lamartine, unfortunately succumbing to Allied bombs in 1944.
Vincent van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night (1888). Image via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
In the early 2000s, a group of local enthusiasts—a property developer, a heritage buff, and a journalist—dreamed of recreating the café's magic. Choosing Place du Forum in the UNESCO Heritage Site of Arles, they partnered with Marseille businessman Roland Zemmour to recreate every detail from Van Gogh’s work, from the warm, sunflower yellow walls down to gas lamp-style fixtures, completing the picture with patrons of the modern day.
Photo 311501532 © Baloncici | Dreamstime.com
The artistic endeavor, however, took a sharp turn in 2015, Le Monde and ARTnews report. A routine tax inspection revealed missing documents, raising red flags. Café la Nuit’s management was accused of concealing over €1 million (US$1.09 million) in sales between 2012 and 2014, essentially underreporting their income to avoid taxes. This domino effect led to hefty fines for the café, culminating in a five-year business ban for Zemmour in 2021. The plot thickened further in 2023, with Zemmour declaring personal bankruptcy.
With lawsuits pending and the doors firmly shut, Café la Nuit’s future is a big question mark. Whether it will find a way to reopen, bathed once again in the warm glow of Van Gogh's vision, remains an unanswered question. As for now, it’s no customers on starry nights.
