Painting Focus: White House at Night (1890)

The enigmatic, mysterious Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890) painted the masterpiece "The White House at Night" a few weeks before he died of a gunshot wound. It is also known by its French name, "La maison blanche du nuit" because Van Gogh painted it from life in the French village of Auvers-su-Oise, the village where he would die. "The White House at Night" shows Van Gogh at the full flower of his artistic powers.

Considered worthless before the paint even dried, it is now considered priceless. The oil painting's last known location was the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, although it has apparently been in storage since 1995, although the painting can be seen on the museum's webpage. In the chaos of World War II, the Russian military stole the painting from German art collector and factory owner Otto Krebs.

The Painting's Subject Matter

The White House in question is not the infamous home of the American President but a small French cottage with a red roof, green shutters, yellow chimneys and white-washed walls. The house is flanked by cypresses and other trees which stand like soldiers on sentry duty. The front of the house is obscured first by large green shrubs and then by a yellow wall encircling the house. The front door is completely covered up.

Two fashionable ladies in the corpulent dresses of the day walk through the front gate, their backs to the viewer, while another woman dressed in black and carrying a basket walks on the path towards the viewer. High above is the night sky - although the sky is day-blue. At first it seems like a huge yellow sun is there, but since it is night time, the orb is actually a star, most likely Venus. This type of star is seen in many other Van Gogh paintings, including his infamous "The Starry Night" (1889.)

Death Takes a Holiday

At first glance, this painting seems to be a calm summer's day in a picturesque French village, but one has to wonder if Van Gogh was contemplating suicide as he painted it. The Hermitage Museum states that Van Gogh made the white house look like a prison. Certainly there seems no way in to the viewer because of the wall and the foliage. And why is there a sudden splash of red in two of the windows on the upper floor?

All of the women in the painting are wearing black. The woman walking towards the viewer seems elegant and young. On closer inspection, her sickly pale skin and pained expression makes her resemble the traditional figure of Death more than any French belle. Her wavy hair looks more like a hood for her black cloak than hair touching a dress.