Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890)
La Berceuse (Lullaby or Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle)
1889
Oil on canvas, 92.7 x 72.7 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(F 508, JH 1671)
While in Arles, Van Gogh painted Augustine Roulin, the wife of postal worker Joseph Roulin (35.1982), in bold, exaggerated colors against a vividly patterned floral background. The rope in her hands leads to a cradle beyond the confines of the frame. At right, the painter inscribed the title “La Berceuse,” which means both “lullaby” and “she who rocks the cradle.” The Roulins had a baby at home, but Van Gogh conceived of the action in a broader sense as well, writing to his brother that he would like to see this painting “in the cabin of a boat” where fishermen in “their melancholy isolation, exposed to all the dangers, alone on the sad sea…would experience a feeling of being rocked, reminding them of their own lullabies.” This painting is one of five variations Van Gogh painted on the same subject. (MFA)
Compare:
Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890)
La Berceuse
1888–1889
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890)
La Berceuse
1889
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890)
La Berceuse
1889
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890)
La Berceuse
1889
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
See also:
• Arles (France) | Roulin, Augustine (1851-1930)