The Lullaby
Augustine Roulin holds a simple rope. The cradle remains off-camera, but this gesture transforms her portrait into an image of motherhood, consolation and color.
Augustine is not an abstract symbol
Before being "the lullaby", she was a woman from Arles, wife of the postman Joseph Roulin and mother of Marcelle, born in July 1888.
Van Gogh became friends with Joseph Roulin and painted several members of his family. This proximity allows him to work on the portrait as a series: same model, repeated pose, modified colors. In the first portrait with the baby, Marcelle is visible. In The Lullaby, the child disappears from the frame, but the rope maintains his presence.
Augustine and Marcelle
The double portrait shows the infant's body. Motherhood is descriptive and immediately readable here.
Joseph Roulin
The postman is Van Gogh's friend and the link with the whole family. His blue uniform and full beard also become repeated patterns.
What does the rope do in his hands?
Augustine holds the rope connected to Marcelle's cradle, placed outside the field of the painting. By pulling gently, she can rock the child without leaving her chair. This very simple domestic device gives its action to the portrait.
Van Gogh paints neither the bed, nor the baby, nor the complete movement. It leaves it to the viewer to mentally extend the rope. Motherhood is understood by a bond rather than by a scene.
A real gesture
The hands do not pose randomly: they control the swing of the cradle.
An active off-camera
The absent child organizes the whole meaning of the image.
A link line
The rope visually connects the figure to the lower edge and prevents the bust from remaining closed in on itself.
Calm does not come from pale colors
Van Gogh seeks an expressive harmony made of complementary contrasts and clean surfaces.
Deep green
The coat forms a stable and central mass.
Orange and ocher
Warm tones give shine to the head.
Yellow
It connects the portrait to the future neighborhood of the Sunflowers.
Pink and red
The floral background becomes decor, almost tapestry.
Five versions, not five identical copies
Van Gogh uses the same pose but modifies the tone ratios, the background, certain contours and the general intensity.
Amsterdam · F 507
A late version from March 1889. The red-orange wallpaper and black outlines give a strong decorative unity.
Otterlo · F 504
Associated with the Kroeller-Müller Museum, this version allows you to observe the first settings of the series.
The Lullaby between two Sunflowers
Van Gogh imagines a set of three panels: the portrait in the center and two yellow still lifes like shutters or candelabras.
Sunflowers · London
Yellow opens the decor and prepares the warmth of the portrait.
The Lullaby · Boston
The red of the central frame must have amplified the oranges of the head.
Sunflowers · Munich
The second panel balances the whole thing with another floral rhythm.
In a letter to Theo, Van Gogh explicitly draws this arrangement. He explains that the yellows and oranges of the head would gain shine near the yellow shutters. The portrait is therefore not thought of as an isolated image, but as the heart of an environment.
Why does Van Gogh think of sailors?
He imagines The Lullaby in a ship's cabin, capable of reminding sailors of the softness of a lullaby and the reassuring movement of the cradle. The swing of the sea joins that controlled by the rope.
This idea goes beyond private portraiture. Augustine becomes a figure of consolation intended for adults far from home. Van Gogh thinks of painting as a useful presence: an image that accompanies, soothes and brings back a memory.
A narrow place
The triptych would have created a colorful wall, almost a small secular chapel.
Sea and cradle
The movement of the ship gives a physical resonance to the title of the work.
Find a lullaby
Painting must awaken an emotional memory rather than telling a specific story.
Quick markers
Who is the woman in La Berceuse?
Augustine-Alix Pellicot Roulin, wife of postman Joseph Roulin and mother of Marcelle. The family lives in Arles and becomes a major set of role models for Van Gogh.
Where is the baby?
Marcelle is in a cradle outside the frame. The rope held by Augustine allows him to move from his chair.
How many versions are there?
Five paintings are generally recognized, today divided between the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kroeller-Müller Museum and Amsterdam.
Has the triptych with the Sunflowers been installed?
Van Gogh designed and designed the layout, but the permanent whole as he imagined it was not made. The paintings are now scattered.
Why is wallpaper so present?
The floral background almost removes depth and transforms the wall into a decorative surface. The figure then stands out through the outline and the green mass of the dress.
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