The portrait of Roulin illustrated here was painted after the final one of Madame Roulin but it is linked with it, despite compositional differences, by the use of a decorative floral background, against which the head is set. The format is that of the pendant pairs of marital portraits common in seventeenth-century Dutch painting. She is also a seated, three-quarter-length composition, but faces left. His first portrait of Roulin, a seated, three-quarter-length painting in which the sitter is facing to our right, is close to the portrait of Madame Roulin. The project was conceived in the summer of 1888, pursued during that autumn, and finally accomplished in 1889. So he planned to paint the family of the disaffected republican Roulin, the postman. His project was both reactionary and utopian, and inevitably more limited. Van Gogh wanted to achieve a comparable social representation, but the social relations of modern times were not as sane and healthy as in theirs. In their work, viewed as a whole, they produced a 'portrait' of a whole society, a lively, healthy and sane republic. Hals and Rembrandt, he argued, had been first and foremost portraitists, but not in the sense of mere producers of facial resemblances. In his letters to Émile Bernard van Gogh often expounded his conception of the portrait, illustrating his argument with constant reference to seventeenth-century Dutch portraiture. Joseph Roulin’s wife, Augustine, and baby daughter, Marcelle, from just two of Vincent Van Gogh’s many portraits of the Roulin Family.(b. He painted them all - Joseph of course, his wife Augustine, his 17 year old son Armand, Camille the 11 year old school boy, and little baby Marcelle. Vincent Van Gogh recorded his affection for Joseph Roulin and for his family too, in the wonderful series of Roulin portraits. Even returning later from a new position in Marseille to see his friend. On Vincent’s release he continued to visit him. The two lived on the same street and the artist easily fell into a friendship with the postal official at the Arles train station and his large family. Joseph arranged that Vincent’s rent was paid and his house kept clean. Vincent painted Joseph Roulin for the first time in 1888 just after moving to Arles with the hope of exploring more artistic sensations in the unspoiled southern French countryside. He visited him there and wrote to Vincent’s family to keep them updated. When they took Vincent in for treatment at the local psychiatric hospital Joseph was there for him. It was his postman friend Joseph, who helped Vincent during this the most traumatic of times. Vincent sliced off part of his own ear, and later presented it for safe keeping to a local girl, Rachel. An explosive disagreement with fellow artist Paul Gauguin spiralled downward into a painful psychotic episode. His voice has a strangely pure and touching quality…”īut the time spent in Arles was soon to become the most difficult of Van Gogh’s life. “It was touching to see him with his children this last day, especially with the quite tiny one when he made her laugh and jump on his knee, and sang for her. He painted various portraits of Joseph’s wife Augustine, his two sons, and his recently born baby daughter. Vincent was also attracted to his family. He was a local postal officer at the rail station, a passionate socialist, a keen drinker, but also a tender and proud father. Joseph was 47 when Vincent first painted him. “Though he is not quite old enough to be like a father to me, nevertheless has a salient gravity and a tenderness for me such as an old soldier might have for a young one… A good soul and so wise and so full of feeling and so trustful” He was in awe of his appearance, his full beard, smart blue uniform and colorful complexion but also of his character, considering him to be something of a Socrates. Vincent Van Gogh painted and drew Joseph Roulin on numerous occasions whilst living in Arles, in the south of France. Joseph Roulin, Van Gogh’s postman friend in Arles I am very pleased with the result.” Van Gogh’s original portrait of Joseph Roulin alongside David’s completed felt tip doodle. The whole process took the best part of an hour and I enjoyed drawing loosely like Van Gogh very much. When it came to the postman’s cap I painted the lettering first in bright yellow and then surrounded it with the blue/black of the cap. I started by quickly drawing in the outlines without rigorously following the printed lines – as though I was doing a sketch of my own – and I tried to continue this loose approach throughout the picture. I chose felt tip pens for drawing from Van Gogh’s The Postman portrait because their colours are bright like the bold colours used in the painting, particularly in the face.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |