Vincent van Gogh saw in Augustine Roulin\u2014along with her husband, Joseph, and their children\u2014a model of love and family life. In this portrait, Roulin rocks a cradle by pulling on a rope. The title La Berceuse (the lullaby) suggests a consoling figure, and the artist described his palette as a soothing \u201clullaby in colors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Gogh painted five versions of this image. He completed this one in January 1889, soon after returning from his stay in the hospital following Paul Gauguin\u2019s fraught departure. Madame Roulin sits in Gauguin\u2019s chair, an attempt by Van Gogh to fill the space left by the older artist. In May 1889, Van Gogh gave this canvas to Gauguin as a gesture of reconciliation and friendship, instructing that it be hung between two paintings of sunflowers.<\/p>\n","short_description":"Van Gogh saw in Augustine Roulin\u2014along with her husband, Joseph, and their children\u2014a model of love and family life. He completed this work in 1889, soon after returning from his stay in the hospital following Paul Gauguin\u2019s fraught departure. Madame Roulin sits in Gauguin\u2019s chair, an attempt by Van Gogh to fill the space left by the older artist. In May 1889, Van Gogh gave this canvas to Gauguin as a gesture of reconciliation and friendship.","dimensions":"92.7 \u00d7 73.8 cm (36 1\/2 \u00d7 29 1\/2 in.); Framed: 111.9 \u00d7 91.8 \u00d7 8.3 cm (44 1\/16 \u00d7 36 1\/8 \u00d7 3 1\/2 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":73,"height":92,"diameter":null,"clarification":null},{"depth":8,"width":91,"height":111,"diameter":null,"clarification":"Framed"}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas","inscriptions":"Inscribed: Vincent, Arles, 89 (on the arm of the chair); La Berceuse (to the right of the chair)","credit_line":"Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 17, no. 7 (1923), cover ill.\n\nModern Paintings in the Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial from the Birch-Bartlett Collection (Chicago: Art Institute, 1926), 12, pl. 13.\n\nJ[acob]-B[aart] de la Faille, L\u2019Oeuvre de Vincent van Gogh: Catalogue Raisonn\u00e9, vol. 1 (Paris and Berlin: G. van Oest, 1928), no. 506.\n\nJacob-Baart de la Faille, The Works of Vincent van Gogh, His Paintings and Drawings (New York: Reynal, 1970), 224 (ill.), 225, no. F506.\n\nRichard R. Brettell, \u201cThe Bartletts and the \u2018Grande Jatte:\u2019 Collecting Modern Painting in the 1920s,\u201d Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 12, no. 2 (1986): 106, 107 fig. 3.\n\nLouis van Tilborgh, et al., \"Weave matching and dating of Van Gogh's paintings: an interdisciplinary approach,\" Burlington Magazine (February 2012): 112 (color ill.), 119.\n\nVan Tilborgh, Louis, et. all. Van Gogh & Japan, exh. cat. (Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum; Sapporo: Hokkaid\u014d Shimbun Press; Brussels: Mercatorfonds, 2018), 40, 79, 85, 192, cat. 122 (ill.).\n\nRathbone, Eliza et al., Van Gogh: Repetitions, exh. cat. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013), 74-75, 118-19.\n\nWalter Feilchendeldt, Vincent van Gogh: The years in France, Complete paintings 1886-1890. Dealers, collectors, exhibitions, provenance (London: Philip Wilson, 2013), 117 (ill.).\n\nRichard Kendall, Sjraar van Heugten, and Chris Stolwijk, Van Gogh and Nature, exh. cat. (Williamstown, MA: Clark Art Institute, 2015), 157 fig. 128. \n\nGloria Groom, ed., Van Gogh's Bedrooms, exh. cat. (New Haven and London: Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University Press, 2016), 8, plate 25.\n\nSjraar van Heugten and Helewise Berger, Van Gogh's Inner Circle: Friends, Family, Models, exh. cat. (Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: ACC Art Books, 2019), 98 cat. 75, 99 (color ill.), 101, 212.\n\nNienke Bakker and Katie Hanson, Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits, exh. cat. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts; Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, 2025), 52, 86\u201390, 88 fig. 50, 154, 160, 218.","exhibition_history":"Mannheim Kunsthalle, Internationale Kunstausstellung, March 1 - October 20, 1907, cat. 1080.\n\nParis, Galerie E. Druet, Cinquante Tableaux de Vincent van Gogh, November 8 - 20, 1909, cat. 10\n\nParis, Galerie Marcel Bernheim, Exposition r\u00e9trospective d'oeuvres de Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), January 5 - 24, 1925, cat. 28.\n\nMinneapolis Institute of Art, Apr.-Sep. 1925\n\nBoston Arts Club, Jan. 1926..\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, June 1\u2013Nov. 1, 1933, cat. 377.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, June 1\u2013Nov. 1, 1934, cat. 311.\n\nBoston, Museum of Fine Arts, Feb. 1936.\n\nD. Rosen, July 1947\n\nNew York, Wildenstein and Co., Van Gogh: Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Public Education Association, Mar. 24 - Apr. 30, 1955.\n\nNagaoka, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Masterworks of Modern Art from The Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 20\u2013May 29, 1994; Nagoya, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, June 10\u2013July 24, 1994; Yokohama Museum of Art, Aug. 6\u2013Sep. 25, 1994.\n\nDetroit Institute of Arts, Van Gogh: Face to Face, Mar. 12-June 4, 2000; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, July 2\u2013Sep. 24, 2000; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Oct. 22, 2000\u2013Jan. 14, 2001.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South, The Art Institute of Chicago, Sep. 22, 2001-Jan. 13, 2002; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Feb. 9-June 2, 2002.\n\nArt Institute of Chicago, Van Gogh's Bedrooms, Feb. 14 - May 10, 2016, no cat. no., plate 25.\n\nSapporo, Hokkaid\u00f5 Museum of Modern Art, Van Gogh & Japan, Aug. 26- Oct. 14, 2017, cat. 122; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Oct. 24, 2017-Jan. 8, 2018; Kyoto, National Museum of Modern Art, Jan. 20-Mar. 4, 2018; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Mar. 23-June 24, 2018.\n\nWashington DC, The Phillips Collection, Van Gogh: Repetitions, Oct. 12, 2013 \u2013 Jan. 26, 2014, cat. 24; Cleveland Museum of Art, Mar. 2 \u2013 May 26, 2014.\n\n's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Het Noordbrabants Museum, Van Gogh's Inner Circle: Friends, Family, Models, Sep. 21, 2019 - Jan. 12, 2020, cat. 75.\n\nBoston, Museum of Fine Arts, Van Gogh and the Roulin Family, Mar. 30\u2013Aug. 3, 2025, no cat. no., fig. 50; Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Sep. 3, 2025\u2013Jan 11, 2026.","provenance_text":"The artist; sent to his brother, Theo van Gogh (died 1891) [Letter 767 Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh, May 2, 1889]. Paul Gauguin, Paris [this and the following according to La Faille 1928, no. 506]; Auguste Pellerin Collection (died 1929), Paris; Galerie de l\u2019Art E. Blot, Paris [Paris 1909]; Am\u00e9d\u00e9e Schuffenecker (1854-1936), Saint-Maur, Paris; Galerie de l\u2019Art Marcel Bernheim, Paris; Frederic Clay Bartlett (died 1953), Chicago by at least 1923 [Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 1923, cover ill.]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1926.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":14,"fiscal_year":1926,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":0,"color":{"h":43,"l":38,"s":50,"percentage":0.0003122536271570575,"population":297},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 241","gallery_id":2147479705,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Painting and Sculpture of Europe","department_id":"PC-10","artist_id":40610,"artist_title":"Vincent van Gogh","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[40610],"artist_titles":["Vincent van Gogh"],"category_ids":["PC-10"],"category_titles":["Painting and Sculpture of Europe"],"term_titles":["oil on canvas","portraits: female subject","oil painting","Post-Impressionism","oil paint (paint)","red (color)","green (color)","woman with children","interior","chair","flowers","portraits: French subject","portrait","dutch","france","oil paintings (visual works)","paint","portrait","canvas","paint","painting","painting","painting (image making)","painting techniques","19th century","nineteenth century","painting","european painting","emotions","women","portraits","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs"],"style_id":"TM-7547","style_title":"Post-Impressionism","alt_style_ids":["TM-13203","TM-15636"],"style_ids":["TM-7547","TM-13203","TM-15636"],"style_titles":["Post-Impressionism","19th century","nineteenth century"],"classification_id":"TM-66","classification_title":"oil on canvas","alt_classification_ids":["TM-15692","TM-14238","TM-78","TM-10387","TM-12855","TM-9","TM-54"],"classification_ids":["TM-66","TM-15692","TM-14238","TM-78","TM-10387","TM-12855","TM-9","TM-54"],"classification_titles":["oil on canvas","dutch","france","oil paintings (visual works)","paint","portrait","painting","european painting"],"subject_id":"TM-8582","alt_subject_ids":["TM-11851","TM-11849","TM-15267","TM-14037","TM-14682","TM-10482","TM-8602","TM-14105","TM-10122","TM-8735","TM-8658","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176"],"subject_ids":["TM-8582","TM-11851","TM-11849","TM-15267","TM-14037","TM-14682","TM-10482","TM-8602","TM-14105","TM-10122","TM-8735","TM-8658","TM-12169","TM-11299","TM-12176"],"subject_titles":["portraits: female subject","red (color)","green (color)","woman with children","interior","chair","flowers","portraits: French subject","portrait","emotions","women","portraits","Century of Progress","world's fairs","Chicago World's Fairs"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-3124","TM-2577","TM-13502"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-3124","TM-2577","TM-13502"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","canvas","paint","painting"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-14210","TM-3891","TM-3971"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-14210","TM-3891","TM-3971"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting","painting (image making)","painting techniques"],"theme_titles":[],"image_id":"6f3ca8b9-fef6-edfc-a71c-3e7b471d5f6c","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1926.200"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle (La berceuse)"],"weight":19023,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-08-31T10:42:14-05:00","updated_at":"2026-08-31T13:45:04-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-02T18:10:49-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. 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