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In shades of mint, laurel, and eucalyptus green, the head and shoulders of a chubby baby fill this vertical portrait painting. It is created with long, visible brushstrokes, some of which are thick enough to cast shadows onto the canvas beneath. The baby’s skin is painted with cool, light green, with peach-colored highlights. The baby has large, vivid blue eyes gazing intently down and off to our right, full lips, and chubby cheeks. The white garment comes to the baby’s elbows, and the pudgy fingers touch. The baby wears a gold bracelet and a gold ring with a round, red stone on the right hand, to our left. The garment and white cap on the head are outlined in sky or royal blue. Painted with vertical strokes, the background is a darker shade of laurel green.

Vincent van Gogh

Roulin's Baby, 1888

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 83

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 35 x 23.9 cm (13 3/4 x 9 7/16 in.)

framed: 53.9 x 42.5 cm (21 1/4 x 16 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Chester Dale Collection

Accession Number

1963.10.31

Artists / Makers

Vincent van Gogh (painter) Dutch, 1853 - 1890

Image Use

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Provenance

Mme Jules Armand (Joséphine Ronin), Arles.[1] (A. Mak, Amsterdam). (Galerie Étienne Bignou, Paris), on joint account with (Hodebert, Paris [at some point on consignment with Alex Reid and Lefèvre]); sold by (Bignou and Hodebert) to (Kraushaar Galleries, New York);[2] sold 9 March 1927 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.

[1] The painting has been said to have been given to the hospital in Arles where van Gogh stayed and afterwards sold by the hospital. However, a letter dated 7 April 1966 from R. Chambrelan, Directeur des Hospices Civils D'Arles, now in NGA curatorial files, indicates that the painting was never owned by the hospital. Jules Armand was a grocer and merchant from whom Van Gogh bought paint and canvas while in the town.

[2] Letters dated 9 March 1927 and 10 March 1927 from Kraushaar to Dale indicate that the painting had been shipped from Paris and acknowledge Dale's payment. (See Kraushaar Galleries Records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Outgoing Letters 1920-1945, Box 1, Folder 43, and Incoming Letters 1901-1944, Box 11, folder 33; copies in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Armand, Jules, Mme
Bignou, Etienne
Dale, Chester
Hodebert
Kraushaar Galleries
Mak, A.
Reid & Lefèvre, Ltd, Alex

Exhibition History

1928: Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1928, no. 16

1965: The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1998: Van Gogh's Van Goghs: Masterpieces from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1998-1999, not in catalogue (shown only in Washington).

Bibliography

1923: Coquiot, Gustave. Vincent van Gogh. Paris, 1923: 179.

1928: "Exhibitions in New York." The Arts 16, no. 5 (November 1928): 268, repro.

1928: Faille, J.-B. de la. L'Oeuvre de Vincent Van Gogh, catalogue raisonné. 4 vols. Paris and Brussels, 1928: 1:no. 440; 2:repro.

1929: Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 65, repro.

1929: Dale, Maud. "French Art in the Chester Dale Collection." Art News (27 April 1929): 46, repro.

1929: Stokvis, Benno. "Vincent van Gogh in Arles." Kunst und Künstler 27 (1929): 474.

1937: Scherjon, W., and Jos. de Gruyter. Vincent van Gogh's Great Period: Arles, St. Rémy and Auvers sur Oise (Complete Catalogue). Amsterdam, 1937: 154-155, no. 126, repro.

1939: Faille, J.-B. de la. Vincent Van Gogh. New York and Paris, 1939: 340, no. 440, repro.

1951: Leymarie, Jean. Van Gogh. Paris, 1951: 119, no. 102.

1955: Priou, J.-N. "Van Gogh et la famille Roulin.” Revue des PTT de France 2 (May–June 1955): 26-32.

1963: Kuh, Katherine. "The Artist Looks at Children." Saturday Review of Literature (14 December 1963): 36.

1965: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 126, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 59.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 52, repro.

1970: Faille, J.-B. de la. The Works of Vincent van Gogh: Paintings and Drawings. Amsterdam, 1970: no. F440, repro.

1973: Pickvance, Ronald. "The new de la Faille." The Burlington Magazine 115 (March 1973): 176.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 156, repro.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: repro. 524.

1980: Hulsker, Jan. The Complete Van Gogh: Paintings, drawings, sketches. New York, 1980: 378-380, no. 1639, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 520, no. 779, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 179, repro.

1994: Walther, Ingo F., and Rainer Metzger. Vincent van Gogh: Sämtliche Gemälde. 2 vols. Cologne, 1994: 2:462, repro.

2000: Pickvance, Ronald. Van Gogh. Exh. cat. Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, 2000: 305-306, no. 71.

2000: Van Gogh: Face to Face. The Portraits, Exh. cat. The Detroit Institute of Arts; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Philadelphia Museum of Art. Detroit, 2000-2001: 164-171.

2001: Druick, Douglas, and Peter Kort Zegers. Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South. Exh. cat. Art institute of Chicago; Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. Chicago and New York, 2001: 227-234, repro.

2013: Rathbone, Eliza E., William H. Robinson, Elizabeth Steele, and Marcia Steele. Van Gogh Repetitions. Exh. cat. The Phillips Collection, Washington; Cleveland Museum of Art. New Haven and London, 2013: 113, 117, repro. (detail) 112, 114 fig. 53.

2014: Kelly, Simon. “Van Gogh’s Repetitions: Washington and Cleveland.” The Burlington Magazine 156, no. 1336 (2014): 490.

2019: Pilz, Kathrin, Louis van Tilborgh, Muriel Geldof, and Ann Hoenigswald. "Vincent van Gogh's Three Portraits of Marcelle Rouin." Facture: conservation, science, art history 4 (2019): 128-155, 129 unummbered fig. (detail), figs. 3, 7(c) (detail), 8 (c) (detail), 10 (c) (detail), 11 (c).