In the café: Agostina Segatori in Le tambourin, 1887 by Vincent Van Gogh. A strikingly-dressed woman is shown seated at a small table, smoking a cigarette and staring into space. The tambourine-shaped tables and bar-stools tell us that she is in the Café du Tambourin on the Boulevard de Clichy. The woman depicted is probably Agostina Segatori, the owner of this café frequented by Van Gogh and his friends. The artist paid for his meals with flower still lifes, which were then hung on the walls. It was here that Van Gogh’s paintings were seen by the public for the first time. Vincent may have had an affair with ‘La Segatori’, an Italian by birth, although this is by no means certain. Some of the letters seem to indicate that they were more than just friends. Vincent Van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colours and emotional impact. Little appreciated during his lifetime, his fame grew in the years after his death. Today, he is widely regarded as one of history's greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art. Van Gogh did not begin painting until his late twenties, and most of his best-known works were produced during his final two years. He produced more than 2,000 artworks, consisting of around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches. Although he was little known during his lifetime, his work was a strong influence on the modernist art that followed. Today many of his pieces including his numerous self portraits, landscapes, portraits and sunflowers are among the world's most recognizable and expensive works of art.