On view from 3 October 2025 to 11 January 2026.
14 portraits of the Roulin family together for the first time
When Van Gogh arrived in Arles in 1888, he struggled to connect with the local community. He did find a true kindred spirit in Joseph Roulin. The postman, with his striking beard and blue uniform, became a favoured model and Van Gogh’s closest friend in the southern French town. Not only did Van Gogh paint Joseph, but also his wife Augustine and their three children: the seventeen-year-old Armand, the eleven-year-old Camille, and baby Marcelle. Fourteen of these unique portraits – normally dispersed among various museums and private collections around the world – are being brought together for the very first time.
The portraits reflect Van Gogh’s deep bond with his friend, and reveal his ambition not only to capture a likeness, but above all to convey the soul of his subjects on canvas. In this respect, he took inspiration from predecessors such as Rembrandt and Frans Hals. The exhibition features work by these seventeenth-century masters, as well as portraits of the Roulin family by Paul Gauguin, which he created during his stay with Van Gogh in the Yellow House.
