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Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin

Vincent van Gogh, 1887

Vincent van Gogh painted Agostina Segatori Sitting in the Café du Tambourin in 1887, during his years in Paris. It shows a woman seated alone at a café table, a quiet, slightly melancholy scene that also records the artist's growing interest in Japanese prints. The painting belongs to the Van Gogh Museum.

Where to see it

The painting is in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum. Works in museum collections are sometimes rotated, lent to other institutions or taken off view for conservation, so check the Van Gogh Museum's official website for current display status and ticket information before you plan your visit.

What to look for in person

The tambourine furniture

Look first at the table and the stool. Both are round and shaped like tambourines, a direct reference to the café's name, the Tambourin. The flat circular tabletop tilts toward you, so you see it almost from above while the woman is seen from the side. This mix of viewpoints flattens the space and pulls the furniture forward, making the café's decorative theme a key part of the composition rather than mere background detail.

Japanese prints on the wall

Behind the sitter, the wall is covered with prints in the Japanese style. They are painted loosely, with patches of colour suggesting figures and patterns rather than precise copies. Van Gogh collected Japanese woodblock prints while in Paris, and their bright colours, strong outlines and flattened space shaped his work from this period onward. Step close to see how lightly the prints are sketched compared with the more solid treatment of the woman and the table in front of them.

The sitter and her mood

The woman sits with her elbows near the table, a cigarette in her hand and a glass of beer before her, wearing a hat. Her gaze drifts away from the viewer, giving the scene a withdrawn, pensive feel. Notice the brushwork: visible strokes in her clothing and face, typical of Van Gogh's Paris years, when he was experimenting with the lighter palette and broken touch he encountered among artists in the city. The modest size of the canvas rewards close, unhurried viewing.

About the painting

Van Gogh lived in Paris from 1886 to early 1888, staying with his brother Theo, an art dealer. These years transformed his painting. He met artists working in the newest styles, saw Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist work, and began collecting Japanese prints. His earlier dark, earthy palette gave way to brighter colour and more varied brushwork, and this 1887 painting shows that transition in progress. The sitter is generally identified as Agostina Segatori, an Italian woman who ran the Café du Tambourin in Montmartre, on the boulevard de Clichy. The café was frequented by artists, and its décor, including the tambourine-shaped tables and stools seen here, gave the place its name. Van Gogh is known to have had dealings with the café during his Paris period, and the Japanese prints in the background link the picture to his enthusiasm for that art. The canvas measures 55.5 by 46.5 centimetres, an intimate size suited to a café scene. Rather than a formal portrait, it reads as a glimpse of a moment: a woman alone at a table, smoking, her thoughts elsewhere. In front of the painting, it is worth comparing the confident, decorative handling of the furniture and wall with the more reflective treatment of the figure. Together they show Van Gogh absorbing new influences while still holding on to his interest in ordinary people and everyday settings. For visitors to the Van Gogh Museum, the work offers a clear window onto the Paris years that prepared the way for his later paintings.

Key facts

More by Vincent van Gogh

• Café Terrace at Night — Kröller-Müller Museum
• White House at Night
• The siesta (after Millet) — Musée d'Orsay
• The Church at Auvers — Musée d'Orsay
• Portrait of Père Tanguy
• Starry Night Over the Rhône — Musée d'Orsay
• The Potato Eaters — Van Gogh Museum
• The Red Vineyard
• The Yellow House — Van Gogh Museum
• Irises — J. Paul Getty Museum
• Langlois Bridge at Arles with Women Washing, The — Kröller-Müller Museum
• Blossoming chestnut trees — Kröller-Müller Museum

Sources

• Wikidata Q2278818
• www.vangoghmuseum.nl