Cool Stories About Art

Cool Stories About Art

Real locations that inspired Iconic Paintings

From the "American Gothic" house in Iowa to Van Gogh’s yellow café in Arles. Discover the actual spots where history’s most famous masterpieces were painted.

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Cool Stories About Art
Feb 08, 2026
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Vincent Van Gogh, Café Terrace at Night

In September 1888, Van Gogh painted the gas-lit terrace at Place du Forum in Arles, southern France. The café, now at 11 Place du Forum (renovated in the 1990s to match the painting's yellow facade), closed in 2023 but the building still stands.

You can visit Arles, about 90 km northwest of Marseille, to see where Van Gogh created this starry night scene.

The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh - Café Terrace at Night
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

Johannes Vermeer, The Little Street

Around 1657, Vermeer painted this scene at what is now 40 and 42 Vlamingstraat in Delft, Netherlands, where his aunt ran a tripe business. The original buildings are gone, replaced by 19th-century structures, but you can still walk this quiet canal street in Delft's eastern quarter.

Johannes Vermeer - The Little Street
Johannes Vermeer - The Little Street
Artwork by Johannes Vermeer, The Little Street (2)

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Grant Wood, American Gothic

In August 1930, Wood spotted this house with its Gothic window in Eldon, Iowa, and sketched it on an envelope. The house, built in 1881, still stands at 300 American Gothic Street as a National Historic Landmark where visitors can tour and recreate the famous photo.

American Gothic by Grant Wood
Grant Wood - American Gothic
American Gothic by Grant Wood

Vincent Van Gogh, The Church at Auvers

Van Gogh painted the Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in early June 1890, weeks before his death. This 13th-century Gothic church at Place de l'Église in Auvers-sur-Oise (30 km northwest of Paris) remains virtually unchanged today.

Vincent Van Gogh - The Church at Auvers
Vincent Van Gogh - The Church at Auvers

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