1889
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle (La berceuse) is a 1889 oil by Vincent van Gogh, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
A woman in a green dress sits in a red chair, pulling a rope to rock a cradle we can’t see. Bright yellow walls glow behind her, and her hands look strong, used to work. Van Gogh painted this neighbor, Augustine Roulin, five times. He called the colors a "lullaby," hoping they’d comfort like a song. This version was made after a tough stretch—he’d just left the hospital. Look up *impasto* to see how thick, visible brushstrokes make the paint feel alive.
Vincent van Gogh saw in Augustine Roulin—along with her husband, Joseph, and their children—a 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 “lullaby in colors.” 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’s fraught departure. Madame Roulin sits in Gauguin’s chair, an attempt by Van Gogh to fill the space left by the…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
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