Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits - by Nienke Bakker & Katie Hanson (Paperback)

About the Book

"What I'm most passionate about, much much more than all the rest in my profession-is the portrait, the modern portrait," Vincent van Gogh wrote in June 1890. Although predominantly known for his landscapes, from 1888 to 1889, Van Gogh devoted himself to creating a series of portraits of one family, the Roulins. The Arles postman Joseph Roulin, his wife Augustine, and their three children inspired an astonishing set of twenty-three painted portraits plus three drawings. This book offers the first in depth exploration of this group of works which Van Gogh hoped would express "the model's thoughts, his soul," and comment about human existence in a more universal sense. Relying on letters from the artist, archival material, contemporary criticism, and technical studies, Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits features insightful essays on Van Gogh's practice, his beliefs about portraiture, his personal relationship with the Roulins, and his admiration for his contemporaries as well as seventeenth-century Dutch portraitists"--

Book Synopsis

With vibrant colors and imaginative backgrounds, Van Gogh's affectionate renderings of an entire family underscore his love of portraiture

Vincent van Gogh once wrote, "What I'm most passionate about...is the portrait, the modern portrait." This passion flourished between 1888 and '89 when, during his stay in Arles, in the South of France, the artist created a number of portraits of a neighboring family that had agreed to sit for him. The family included the local postman Joseph Roulin; his wife, Augustine; and their three children, Armand, Camille and Marcelle. Over the course of his year in Arles, the artist created an astonishing 26 painted portraits of the family members, both in groups and individually, as well as multiple drawings.
Van Gogh's tender relationship with the postman and his family and his groundbreaking portrayals of them are at the heart of this book, the first dedicated to the Roulin portraits. Drawing on letters from the artist, archival material, contemporary criticism and technical studies, The Roulin Family Portraits features insightful essays on Van Gogh's practice, his beliefs about portraiture, his personal relationship with the Roulins and his admiration for his contemporaries as well as 17th-century Dutch portraitists.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-90) began his painting career in his late twenties, influenced first by his work as a missionary in a mining region of Belgium, and later by his exposure to Impressionism while living in Paris. His bright signature style emerged after relocating to the South of France, where he produced more than 2,000 artworks in just over a decade.

Review Quotes

Organized by Nienke Bakker of the Van Gogh Museum, Katie Hanson of the MFA, and their team, and accompanied by an excellent catalog, the exhibition is the first devoted exclusively to the remarkable series.--Karen Wilken "The Wall Street Journal"

The MFA Boston show is a commemoration of a unique and meaningful friendship, featuring 14 of paintings from the series. Shy, asocial, and debilitatingly lonely, van Gogh found a kindred connection with Roulin that fueled his own artwork and continued to resonate with him through the end of his life.--Maya Pantone "Hyperallergic"