I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s “Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits” exhibit just before it closed on Sunday, Sept. 7. The exhibition was an in-depth look into Vincent Van Gogh’s relationship with the art of portraiture, the Roulin family and his struggle with mental illness during the last years of his life. It featured 23 different Van Gogh works, both owned by the Museum of Fine Arts and works on loan, along with formative portraits from previous Dutch masters, Japanese woodblock prints and letters sent to Van Gogh from Joseph Roulin. Curated altogether, the exhibit showcased Van Gogh’s portraiture of the Roulin family and painted a tender portrait of the artist himself. The exhibit was a look into what he admired about other artists and art forms, how he brought those inspirations into his art and his deeply important relationships with his family and friends. 

The exhibit began by situating the visitor within the town of Arles in Southern France, Van Gogh’s home from 1888-1889, where he painted the Roulin portraits. Included among the artworks was a map that depicted places important to Van Gogh while he resided there, including the location of his home, the Roulin’s home and the hospital he would later stay at while he struggled with his mental health. The exhibit also included a plywood mockup of Van Gogh’s studio space constructed according to scalefeet and ceiling height, information pulled from surviving floor plans as the original space was destroyed during World War II. Visitors were invited to step inside and imagine the space as it was typically occupied: full of easels, art supplies, at least one artist (but likely two), and a sitting model. 

The exhibit introduced portraiture as being important to Van Gogh for two closely related reasons. The first is that,  portraiture was a way to create and depict people who would live on after him, as he was unable to start a family the way he wished. The second was the admiration he held for the portraits created by Dutch artists like Frans Hals, Rembrandt van Rijn and Adriaen van Ostade. Each of these artists had works featured in museums that stuck in Van Gogh’s mind after seeing them; he remembered them fondly and in incredible detail. Van Gogh’s love for these artists and their portrait work is evidenced in the first portrait on display in the exhibit, “Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888” (Oil on canvas). 

“Postman, Joseph Roulin, 1888” was painted early on in what would later become a very close friendship between Van Gogh and Roulin. The simple portrait of Roulin seated in a green chair adjoining a green table is awash with vivid color, ,from the bright blue of the background to the royal blue of Roulin’s uniform and yellow and rosy tones that make up the postman’s face. Though Roulin’s pose is somewhat awkward and stiff, the portrait is still striking. He gazes out at the viewer impassively but somehow the setting still feels intimate. Van Gogh’s signature textured brushwork is on display in this portrait as well. 

The painting clearly takes inspiration from Frans Hals’ “Merry Drinker” (about 1628-1630) also painted with oil on canvas, which was also on display in the Museum of Fine Arts exhibit. The rose of Roulin’s round cheeks is reminiscent of the face of the man in “Merry Drinker,” and in Van Gogh’s compositional sketch of the same portrait, he included a glass on the table by Roulin’s elbow (this sketch was also on display). Van Gogh also referred to Roulin as a “drinker” in letters to his brother Theo. Taken together, the exhibit provides a clear view of the way that the art Van Gogh admired influenced his own works; he was eager to emulate another artist’s work that he deeply loved.

The next part of the exhibit examined the close friendship Van Gogh had with the Roulin family and displayed the portraits he did of each family member together as a set. Of the twenty-six portraits Van Gogh painted of the five Roulin family members, fourteen were on display as part of the exhibition. During the 19th century, portraiture was an art reserved for members of the upper class, so for Van Gogh to have depicted a working class family at all, let alone several times over, was especially unique. It reveals that not only did Van Gogh truly covet the chance to do portrait work, but he held deep affection for the sitters as well. Each composition was done several times over so that the Roulin family could be compensated for their time with the portrait, Van Gogh might have a copy for himself and he might send a copy to his brother Theo, the art dealer in Paris. 

Van Gogh’s portrait “Camille Roulin” (1888) effortlessly captures the qualities of 11-year-old Camille, Roulin’s youngest son. Camille’s bright blue eyes are downcast, away from the viewer, portraying the slight shyness that seems inherent to childhood. The bright green of Camille’s coat and the blue of his round hat pop against the portrait’s yellow background. Van Gogh’s short brush strokes bring life and texture to the subject. Additionally, the museum hung each of the four portraits in this part of the exhibit on deep purple walls which  made Van Gogh’s characteristic vivid colors pop all the more. 

Adjacent to Camille’s portrait was Van Gogh’s portrait of Roulin’s elder son titled “Armand Roulin (1888, oil on canvas).” Armand portrays another classic aspect of adolescence: teenage angst. When the portrait was painted, Armand was 17 and had just begun working as a blacksmith, teetering on the brink between adolescence and adulthood. Armand is dressed more formally than his younger brother. He wears a large black coat, white undershirt, neck tie and a large black hat. Van Gogh opted for a rich green background, to bring out the green of Armand’s eyes which are also downcast and turned away from the viewer, much like his younger brother, though Armand appears almost in profile. The gaze of Armand’s eyes, his slouched shoulders and somewhat downturned expression come together to make a picture of a teenager’s sullen distance. 

Also on display was “Madame Roulin and Her Baby (1888, oil on canvas),” a portrait of Augustine Roulin and newborn Marcelle Roulin. Marcelle is undoubtedly the portrait’s focus, she is centered in the frame, her round face is paler and pinker than that of the other Roulins. She too wears a cap, though hers is white. Underneath peaks out one tuft of yellow hair, which matches the portrait’s bright background. Marcelle is held aloft by her mother who occupies the right side of the painting, her green dress contrasting Marcelle’s bright white gown. Augustine’s face is in profile as she gazes intently down at her daughter. Her blonde hair, pulled back in a bun, is one of the most textured parts of the portrait. Though Augustine’s features are less defined, you can almost see the resemblance between mother and daughter. 

The final portrait in the set was my favorite, “Joseph Roulin (1889, oil on canvas).” Unlike the previously displayed portrait, this painting focuses solely on Roulin’s face, similarly to how his family members are depicted. Roulin appears in his blue postman uniform which again stands out against the predominantly green background. Though instead of keeping with a single solid color, Van Gogh layered the background with a floral design. Orange and green swirling stems with white and pink flowers, artfully accented leaves and dozens of little black ovals with white center dots filling in the gaps across the background create a dynamic and eye-catching scene. Dozens of visible brush strokes make up Roulin’s pale face with accented rosy cheeks, a significant aspect of Van Gogh’s impression of Roulin. Roulin’s beard is also more stylized in this portrait, brown with large swirls of yellow, blue and even green, creating a textured highlighted look that is characteristically Van Gogh. 

The stylistic background of “Joseph Roulin” (1889), can be found in other Van Gogh portraits of the Roulin family such as “Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roulin Rocking a Cradle (La Berceuse) (1889, oil on canvas).” Van Gogh’s vivid floral backgrounds were likely inspired by the design of Japanese woodblock prints, which the artist closely admired and collected. His fondness for this particular type of art was mentioned several times throughout the exhibit, including earlier in the mockup studio which included a quote from one of Van Gogh’s letters to Theo where he mentioned ordering Japanese prints for decoration. Several prints were displayed in the exhibit, though they were not specifically ones Van Gogh had purchased and owned himself. Van Gogh also likely took inspiration from the calligraphic form of the prints, as evidenced by the composition sketch of the “Postman Joseph Roulin” portrait whose pen strokes and lines are extremely calligraphic in nature. 

The exhibit did a fantastic job of building a narrative throughline surrounding Van Gogh and Roulin’s friendship; an entire room was dedicated to showcasing letters Roulin sent to Van Gogh and Van Gogh’s family during the most tumultuous time of Van Gogh’s life. Though Van Gogh’s side of the correspondence is lost, Roulin’s side remains to showcase the concern Roulin showed for his friend. He wrote Van Gogh letters of comfort and encouragement, often urging Van Gogh to continue painting and updating him about Roulin’s family. Also on display were letters Roulin wrote to Van Gogh’s brother Theo updating him about Van Gogh’s condition as he recovered in the hospital and later the asylum. During this time, Augustine Roulin’s face appeared in other Van Gogh works such as “The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) (1890, oil on canvas),” proof that Van Gogh was thinking of his dear friends despite their distance and time spent over a year apart. 

The exhibit ended by showcasing the iconic “Self Portrait (1889, oil on canvas)” alongside uncredited gelatin silver prints (one of the earlier forms of photography) of the Roulin family later in life. This display neatly wrapped up the exhibition’s thesis surrounding Van Gogh’s relationship with Roulin and his family. Overall, the exhibit captured the way Van Gogh brought aspects of the artistic styles and people he loved into everything he did.