The "Portrait of Joseph Roulin" by Vincent van Gogh was painted in 1889, oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 21 1/4 (65 x 54 cm). This painting by Vincent van Gogh can be found at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands.
This painting is a portrait of Vincent van Gogh's friend Joseph Roulin. Joseph Roulin was a postal employee in Arles and Vincent van Gogh painted him for the first time in the summer of 1888. Vincent Van Gogh developed a strong friendship with Joseph Roulin and all of his family. Vincent van Gogh was fascinated by the structure of the postman’s face and his strong personality. Vincent van Gogh created a total of 25 portraits of the members of the Roulin family.
In this portrait Joseph Roulin was positioned in his blue, gold-trimmed postal uniform and cap, seated at a table and set against a light blue background. Joseph Roulin's face, was deemed Socratic because of his shortened nose, was also flushed with a high coloration Vincent van Gogh attributed to heavy drinking and while garlanded with an abundant salt and pepper beard. Vincent van Gogh was at least taken with the man's character, perhaps more importantly for the lonely and isolated artist, Joseph Roulin was also a devoted father of a large family. Between the first Joseph Roulin portraits of August 1888 and MoMA's 1889 painting, huge changes took place in van Gogh's life and in his relationship with Joseph Roulin. Vincent van Gogh underwent a psychotic episode in which he menaced his fellow artist and then sliced off a part of his own ear, offering it as a gift to a prostitute. Joesph Roulin tended to him in the aftermath of this incident, seeing him committed to the psychiatric hospital in Arles. Joseph continued watching over him during his internment there writing to Vincent van Gogh's family to reassure them of the artist's health and providing constant assurance to his recovery. As Vincent van Gogh continued to struggle to regain his mental equilibrium, their friendship and support, renewed during Joseph Roulin's return visits from Marseilles. The strength of the portrait embodies the deep admiration Vincent van Gogh felt for his friend.
"Portrait of Joseph Roulin" by Vincent van Gogh was painted during the Post-Impressionism time period of art history. This movement was a period of art in France during the late 19th and early 20th century. As the name implies, the movement took place after the Impressionist movement. Post-Impressionists continued to use the vivid colors, thick application of paint, distinctive brush strokes, and real-life subject matter of the Impressionists, but they were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and to use unnatural or arbitrary color. The best know Post-Impressionists were Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin.
The Postman Joseph Roulin is characterized by vivid colors containing Vincent van Gogh’s signature style of spreading paint very thickly on the canvas. The painting is vibrant and energetic, and reflects the artist’s admiration of the subject during this period of art.
