Portrait of Joseph Roulin

Portrait of Joseph Roulin, painted in January 1889 and now at the Museum of Modern Art, is the fifth and largest of Van Gogh's portraits of his friend and confidant Joseph Roulin, the Arles postal worker who became one of the most important human relationships of his southern period. Van Gogh admired Roulin deeply, describing him in letters as a man of character and distinction who embodied something Socratic — a laborer with intellectual dignity. He painted Roulin, his wife, and their children repeatedly, creating an extended family portrait series unique in his output. This late version, made after Roulin's transfer to Marseilles, captures the sitter with the iconic directness of Van Gogh's fully mature Arles style.

Roulin is rendered frontally in his postal uniform — the blue jacket with gold buttons and hat bearing the legend 'Postes' — creating a bold, almost heraldic composition. Van Gogh uses his characteristic Arles style: strong contour lines, flat or nearly flat areas of unmodulated color, and a dense field of small painted marks in the background suggesting floral wallpaper. His handling of Roulin's face combines psychological directness with Van Gogh's mature brushwork — individual strokes that model form while remaining visible as marks.