Paris inspired many artists. Like all impressionists, Van Gogh often drew city views from life, trying to bring their vision into them. However, he was not attracted to the glamor of a huge city, which by that time had become a noisy center of cultural life. He was looking for quiet corners at then still uncompleted Montmartre, half-rustic Moulin de Galette.
In this picture, Van Gogh depicts the almost undeveloped outskirts of the city. The Parisian buildings are visible in the distance, on the horizon, here the dirt roads are intersected by vast vacant lots resembling rustic fields, which, of course, the artist yearned for in Paris. The color scheme of the painting also resembles the Dutch canvases of Van Gogh. The lilac sky, painted with bold, sweeping strokes, hangs over a vacant lot where almost nothing reminds of the proximity of city life.
Dark birds rush into the distance, a lonely lantern seems standing in the middle of the field, divided into two parts by a wide, pathetic road. Figures of people are deprived of fussiness, their gait is calm and unhurried. This calm, not joyful and not sad, seems to fill the whole picture. Even her composition, consisting of almost two parts, is devoid of any sharpening and accent.
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