The French Postal Worker Who Served as a Model for Van Gogh’s Paintings

🎨 Van Gogh and the Roulins: A Portrait of Artistic Friendship

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, is hosting a breathtaking new exhibition titled Van Gogh and the Roulins. Together Again at Last. Running through September 7, this landmark exhibition reunites — for the first time since their creation more than 130 years ago — most of the 26 portraits Vincent van Gogh painted of the Roulin family during his time in Arles, France.

Through paint and companionship, van Gogh immortalized a deep and lasting friendship with postman Joseph Roulin, his wife Augustine, and their three children: Armand, Camille, and Marcelle. These portraits highlight not only the artistic brilliance of one of history’s most revered painters but also the emotional resonance of human connection in the face of isolation and illness.

A Chance Meeting in Arles

In early 1888, van Gogh fled the bustle of Paris to settle in the sleepy town of Arles in southern France, seeking sunlight, serenity, and a fresh start. Amid the Provençal countryside, his creativity flourished. He completed hundreds of works in just over a year, including iconic images such as Starry Night Over the Rhône and Sunflowers.

Yet perhaps his most intimate works during this period are not landscapes but the portraits of the Roulin family. Joseph Roulin, a bearded, bespectacled postal worker clad in a blue uniform, became not just a favorite subject but a trusted friend. In letters to his family, van Gogh described Roulin not simply in physical terms, but as a thoughtful, intellectual man and devoted family man — someone van Gogh admired deeply.

Depicting the Soul through Color

Van Gogh’s relationship with the Roulins gave birth to a unique body of work, ranging from large, emotionally charged canvases to tender depictions of childlike innocence. His portraits included five renditions of Joseph Roulin, several portraits of Madame Augustine Roulin, and touching images of each of their children — even the infant Marcelle, who was depicted several times, most famously in a white bonnet against a golden background.

In 1889’s Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roulin Rocking a Cradle (La Berceuse), van Gogh portrays Augustine seated with tranquil resolve, her hands rhythmically rocking a cradle out of frame. The work drips with symbolism, evoking themes of motherhood, resilience, and comfort — a manifestation of the emotional warmth that van Gogh so often sought in his lonely life.

More Than Subjects: A Surrogate Family

As curator Nienke Bakker of the Van Gogh Museum aptly notes, the Roulins were more than models: “With them he found the warmth of a family that he was never able to start.”

This sense of belonging was crucial to van Gogh, who had long grappled with social isolation and mental health challenges. When he famously suffered a breakdown and severed his own ear in December 1888, it was Joseph Roulin who stood by him, visiting daily at the hospital and ensuring his family stayed informed.

Despite relocating to Saint-Rémy and later to Auvers-sur-Oise, van Gogh remained in touch with the Roulins. Their correspondence, some of which is featured in the exhibit, reveals a touching story of continued care and mutual respect. Roulin signed off one letter with the words, “When you have the time to honor me with a letter, you will always give me great pleasure.”

Beyond Van Gogh

The exhibition also features portraits of the Roulin family created by van Gogh’s close acquaintance and fellow artist Paul Gauguin. Alongside the paintings are vintage photographs of the Roulins, now fully grown and aged, offering a poignant sense of time’s passage and the legacy of van Gogh’s brushwork. A detailed replica of van Gogh’s Yellow House studio, where he painted many of these masterpieces, adds another layer of immersion for visitors.

The Global Reunion

Due to the dispersal of van Gogh’s work into collections around the world — from Boston to Amsterdam, from Essen to Chicago — it has never been possible until now to view this body of portraits as a unified series. This exhibition marks an unprecedented and likely unrepeatable reunion, making it a must-see for lovers of art, history, and the timeless bonds of friendship.

Don’t miss Van Gogh and the Roulins. Together Again at Last, on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston through September 7, before continuing its journey to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Step into the heart of van Gogh’s most personal masterpiece — not one canvas, but a shared human connection made permanent on paper, in paint, and now in history.

🖼️ Exhibition Details:
– Title: Van Gogh and the Roulins. Together Again at Last
– Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
– Dates: Through September 7,