![]() ![]() ![]() When Van Gogh had resolved to become an artist nearly a decade earlier-following stints as an art dealer, teacher, and missionary-his first works centered on the human figure. This unconventional use of color was vital to Van Gogh’s ongoing effort to create what he described as “portraits which would look like apparitions to people a century later.” 2 He believed that he could make his paintings endure only by abandoning “photographic resemblance” and striving for “passionate expression.” 3 Roulin-a postal worker whose close-knit family and progressive political views appealed to Van Gogh-is painted in colors that depart from those seen in nature: his forehead, cheeks, and nose are streaked with green and his beard is flecked with blue and purple. I seek it by way of color.” 1 With its vivid palette, spirited handling, and exuberant background, Portrait of Joseph Roulin (1889) gives form to Van Gogh’s conception of the modern portrait. “What I’m most passionate about, much much more than all the rest in my profession,” he enthused to his sister, Willemien, “is the portrait, the modern portrait. ![]() What makes a portrait modern? And what makes a modern portrait continue to appear modern, even decades after it was created? For Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), the answer was clear: color. ![]() “I sometimes make changes to the subject, but still I don’t invent the whole of the painting.I find it ready-made-but to be untangled-in the real world.” ![]()
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