In the context of The Roulin Family, explore the Marcelle of the Background.
Marcelle Roulin, the youngest child (31 July 1888 – 22 February 1980) was four months old, when Van Gogh made her portraits.  She was painted three times by herself and twice on her mother’s lap.  The three works show the same head and shoulders image of Marcelle with her chubby cheeks and arms against a green background.When Johanna van Gogh, pregnant at the time, saw the painting, she wrote:  "I like to imagine that ours will be just as strong, just as beautiful – and that his uncle will one day paint his portrait!"  A version titled Roulin's Baby resides at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.In Philadelphia Museum of Art's Portrait of Madame Augustine Roulin and Baby Marcelle Augustine holds baby Marcelle who was born in July, 1888.  The mother, relaxed and her face in a shadow, is passive.  We can see by the size of Augustine's sloping shoulders, arm, and hands that she worked hard to take care of her family. For instance, there were no modern conveniences like washing machines.  In a traditional pose of mothers and new babies, Augustine is holding her baby upright, supporting the baby's back by her right arm and steadying the baby's midsection with her left hand. Marcelle, whose face is directed outward, is more active and engages the audience.  Van Gogh used heavy outlines in blue around the images of mother and baby.To symbolize the closeness of mother and baby, he used adjacent colours of the colour wheel, green, blue and yellow in this work. The vibrant yellow background creates a warm glow around mother and baby, like a very large halo. Of his use of colour, Van Gogh wrote: "instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use colour...to express myself more forcibly." The work contains varying brushstrokes, some straight, some turbulent – which allow us to see the movement of energy "like water in a rushing stream." Émile Bernard, Van Gogh's friend, was the initial owner of this painting in its provenance.
National Gallery of Art provenance Émile Bernard Philadelphia Museum of Art's Washington, D.C. modern conveniences Philadelphia Philadelphia Museum of Art