Rx 35 / The Postman
Vincent van Gogh, The Postman (Joseph Étienne-Roulin), 1889. Courtesy of Barnes Foundation.
A faithful friend is a strong defence, and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure... A faithful friend is the medicine of life. — Ecclesiasticus
When Vincent van Gogh moved from Paris to Arles in 1888, he likely did not anticipate the extent of isolation and loneliness this relocation would incur. During these emotionally turbu- lent two years before his death, the artist strug- gled with poverty, mental illness, and eviction threats from fellow Arles residents. One of his few reprieves was found in a postmaster by the name of Joseph-Étienne Roulin, an ardent socialist and devoted husband and father to his wife and three children. The two men quickly forged a close friendship over shared political ideals.
The Postman may have been created from memory after Roulin and his family moved from Arles to a nearby town. In his absence, van Gogh seems to have exalted Roulin as a paternal sage of sorts. In each of Roulin’s six portraits, he is shown wearing his dark blue postal uniform and cap, emblazoned with the word Postes.This intentional declaration likely reflected Roulin’s political beliefs and signaled that portraiture was no longer reserved for aristocracy. Roulin is squarely centered in this decorative composition, shown from shoulders up, his gaze meeting the viewer. In what van Gogh described in a letter to his brother Theo as a “modern portrait,” he portrayed Roulin through the vivid independent life of color. Unusual hues and color choices unify the composition—the acidic green of the background that unexpectedly appears in Roulin’s mustache and beard, for example. Thick lines of green, bright blues, and lavender swirl around one another, each stroke distinct and unblended. A floral design explodes in the background. van Gogh accentu- ates Roulin’s distinctive facial features with great care—the ruddiness of his nose and cheeks, the slight irregularity of one drooping eyelid, his lopsided nares. Slightly raised eyebrows convey a gentle inquisitiveness. As Martha Lucy, Deputy Director of the Barnes Foundation explained,“In the palpable energy and nurturing spirituality emitted by the sitter, we recognize the connection between this man and the artist depicting him.”
Their friendship deepened following an alter- cation with artist Paul Gaugin in 1888, which prompted van Gogh to slice off part of his ear in a manic episode. It was Roulin who remained a constant and provided solace to van Gogh in the aftermath, including visiting him in the asylum. van Gogh came to idealize Roulin’s kind nature in letters to Theo, describing him as “a man who is not bitter, not melancholy, not perfect, not happy, and also not always perfectly honest. But such a good fellow, so wise, so feeling and so faithful.”
reflections
van Gogh asks us to gaze with duration and tenderness at his friend, and at friendship itself. That van Gogh painted such a dignified and honorary portrait of an ordinary working class man—in his uniform, no less—affirms the elevated role that Roulin occupied for the artist. As philosopher Jacques Derrida posited, friendship is transformative to identity and a vehicle for human flourishing. It is also an intimate arrangement and investment, inherently bound by ethical obligations; in a lifelong friendship, one will likely bury the other. This portrait survives both Roulin and van Gogh—a tribute to their amity. “We continue to know our friend, even when they are no longer present to look back at us,” Derrida wrote.
The Postman is, at its core, a representation of a caring relationship, a model for caregiving and caring for others. In this way, friendship is portrayed as indispensable to our individual well-be- ing and to a democratic society—it can move through adversity and expand communities, cross class and racial divisions, contest hate and segregation, and provide an alternate form of kinship and solidarity. Now, more than ever, it is essential to value and uplift the bonds that sustain us. How can we better position and acknowledge friend- ship as integral to the moral fabric of society, and a nidus for fostering empathy and compassion at the most intimate scale?
Roulin’s friendship gave van Gogh a sense of belonging when he felt otherwise adrift. While in Arles, van Gogh wrote to Theo about his troubles: “What am I in the eyes of most people? A good-for-nothing, an eccentric and disagreeable man, somebody who has no position in society and never will have.” He later wrote that one finds in the “very sincerity of love . . . a kind of armor against the opinions of other people,” likely a testament to the affirming nature of his friendship with Roulin. We are reminded of the ways friendship sustains us in moments of vulnerability—providing groundedness and comfort—and that small acts of kindness become monumental in times of personal or widespread crisis. Indeed, bearing witness to one’s suffering or grief is itself a form of support; authentic presence can hasten healing and fuel clarity.
The value of friendship, particularly in an aca-demic medical context, is ill-defined despite its significant role in career development and individual well-being. A 2012 article describes friendship as “counterspaces that promote positive self-concepts among marginalized individuals through the challenging of deficit-oriented dominant cultural narratives and representations of these individuals.” In other words, friendship plays a powerful role in creating a sense of belonging and helping individuals thrive. What are other meaningful ways in which friendship can be transformative and empowering, personally and professionally? How can medicine better recognize and foster critical informal networks of support for individuals traditionally isolated, excluded, or marginalized by the academy? How can these “counterspaces” become fertile ground for driving organizational and institutional change?
sources
“754.” 754 (758, 583): To Theo Van Gogh. Arles, on or about Thursday, 4 April 1889. - Vincent Van Gogh Letters, vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let754/letter.html.
Barnes Foundation. “Barnes Takeout: Art Talk on Vincent Van Gogh's The Postman.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-5QnS-yWHg.
Case, A. D., & Hunter, C. D. (2012). Counterspaces: A unit of analysis for understanding the role of settings in marginalized individuals’ adaptive responses to oppression. American Journal of Community Psychology, 50(1–2), 257–270.
Hsu, Hua, et al. “What Jacques Derrida Understood About Friendship.” The New Yorker, www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/what-jacques-derrida-understood-about-friendship.
Kaeppel, Kristi, et al. “The F Word: The Role of Women’s Friendships in Navigating the Gendered Workplace of Academia.” Human Resource Development Review, vol. 19, no. 4, Dec. 2020, pp. 362–383, doi:10.1177/1534484320962256.
Popova, Maria. “Vincent Van Gogh on Art and the Power of Love in Letters to His Brother.” Brain Pickings, 10 Nov. 2020, www.brainpickings.org/2014/05/07/vincent-van-gogh-art-love-letters/.
