Mother Roulin with Her Baby - Vincent van Gogh

A portrait of Augustine Roulin and her infant, painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1888 using his signature expressive brushwork and bold colour.

Painted in Arles in 1888, this work depicts Augustine Roulin, the wife of the local postman Joseph Roulin, holding her infant child. Van Gogh produced several portraits of the Roulin family during his time in the south of France, finding in them a sense of humanity that he sought to capture through his distinct application of paint. The composition focuses on the physical interaction between mother and child, with the mother's hands supporting the infant who faces the viewer directly.

The colour palette is dominated by a warm, golden-yellow background, which contrasts with the cool white of the infant's clothing and the deep green of the mother's garment. Van Gogh employs his characteristic impasto technique, where the paint is applied thickly to the canvas, creating a textured surface that catches the light. The brushwork is visible and directional, guiding the eye across the forms and defining the contours of the figures without relying on traditional shading.

This portrait reflects the artist's interest in the people of Arles, whom he often compared to the figures found in Dutch seventeenth-century painting. By simplifying the forms and using bold, non-naturalistic colours, Van Gogh moves away from academic realism. Instead, he prioritises the emotional weight of the subject and the expressive potential of the medium itself. The direct gaze of the infant and the protective posture of the mother provide a quiet, domestic scene that remains one of the more intimate examples of his portraiture from this period. The work is part of a series that documents his relationship with the Roulin family, who provided him with companionship and subjects during a period of intense creative output.