Night Café — History & Facts
A table laden with bottles, fruit, and playing cards occupies the center of Night Café, an oil painting by Louis Marcoussis dating to around 1923. The composition is constructed with angular forms and overlapping planes, characteristic of the Cubist style. Deep greens, reds, and blues dominate the palette, with areas of white and black providing contrast and structure.
The scene is framed by heavy curtains and architectural elements, suggesting an interior space with a view toward a distant, blue-lit exterior. This work reflects the influence of Cubism and the Parisian café culture of the early twentieth century, both central to Marcoussis’s practice. Still lifes and interior scenes were popular subjects among artists in Paris during this period, often serving as a means to explore formal experimentation and the fragmentation of perspective. Night Café dates from about 1923 and measures 70.5 × 88.1 cm; it belongs to the Cleveland Museum of Art.









