Portrait of Camille Roulin

This is the little boy Camille Roulin. He was eleven years old when his portrait was painted. Van Gogh was friends with Camille's father Joseph Roulin, who was a postman. In December 1888, Van Gogh conceived the plan of painting the whole Roulin family: ‘husband, wife, baby, the little boy and the son of 16 – each types in their own right, and really French, even if they look like Russians.’