Postman Joseph Roulin, 1887 Vincent van Gogh, (Dutch, 1853-1890) Oil on canvas, 81.3 x 65.4 cm (32 x 25 3/4 in.) Gift of Robert Treat Paine, 2nd; Boston Museum of Fine Arts #35.1982

(From info card) "Van Gogh left Paris for Arles, a small town in southern France, in February 1888. One of the closest friends and favorite sitters he found there was the local postman, Joseph Roulin, with whose fiery left-wing politics the painter sympathized. While painting this portrait, Van Gogh wrote to his broth, 'I am now at work with another model, a postman in a blue uniform trimmed with gold, a big bearded face, very like Socrates...A more interesting man than many people."

Detail of face...