--- title: Joseph Roulin Sitting on a Chair by van Gogh author: Boston Museum of Fine Arts source: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15478/joseph-roulin-sitting-on-a-chair-by-van-gogh/ format: machine-readable-alternate updated: 1970-01-01 --- # Joseph Roulin Sitting on a Chair by van Gogh _Authored by Boston Museum of Fine Arts_ ## Image File [![Joseph Roulin Sitting on a Chair by van Gogh](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15478.png)](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15478.png) ## Image Caption An 1888 oil on canvas portrait, *Joseph Roulin Sitting on a Chair*, by [Vincent van Gogh](https://www.worldhistory.org/Vincent_van_Gogh/) (1853-90), the Dutch post-impressionist artist. Painted in August in Arles, France. Roulin was the artist's local postman, and the two became good friends, with Vincent painting him several times and members of his family. In a letter to his sister Wil, the artist describes the postman as: > Right now I'm working on the portrait of the postman in his uniform of dark blue with yellow. A head a bit like [Socrates](https://www.worldhistory.org/socrates/), almost no nose, a high forehead, bald crown, small grey eyes, highly coloured plump cheeks, a big [pepper](https://www.worldhistory.org/Pepper/)-and-salt beard, large ears. The man is a well known republican and socialist, argues quite well and knows a great deal. His wife gave birth to a child today, so he's in fine fettle and beaming with satisfaction. (LW 5D) (Boston Museum of Fine Arts) ## Cite This Work ### APA Arts, B. M. o. F. (2022, March 17). Joseph Roulin Sitting on a Chair by van Gogh. *World History Encyclopedia*. ### Chicago Arts, Boston Museum of Fine. "Joseph Roulin Sitting on a Chair by van Gogh." *World History Encyclopedia*, March 17, 2022. . ### MLA Arts, Boston Museum of Fine. "Joseph Roulin Sitting on a Chair by van Gogh." *World History Encyclopedia*, 17 Mar 2022, . ## License & Copyright [![copyright source](/images/partners/wikiart-logo-50px.png)](https://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/postman-joseph-roulin-1888)First published on [WikiArt.org](http://www.wikiart.org/) and republished. [Original image](https://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/postman-joseph-roulin-1888) by [**Boston Museum of Fine Arts**](https://www.wikiart.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/postman-joseph-roulin-1888). Submitted by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/ "User Page: Mark Cartwright"), published on 17 March 2022. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Public Domain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain). This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.