Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts Celebrates the Vincent van Gogh You May Not Know

There’s more to know about Vincent van Gogh than the pop-cultureal references in Don McLean’s “Starry Starry Night” . The ballad offers a valid introduction to the suffering artist’s struggle with mental illness, but there’s so much more to know about Van Gogh.

Vincent van Gogh’s Dutch heritage factors heavily into his contributions to our understanding of his life and Post-Impressionism. His longing for family bonds and respect for the swashbuckling style of Frans Hals are evident throughout the Roulin Family Portrait exhibition currently on view at the MFA.

It’s fascinating to read between Van Gogh’s passionately painted lines. The exhibition at the MFA is a love-letter from the artist to a nurturing family and an inspirational countryman. The paintings are also a color-coded journal of who Vincent van Gogh longed to be.

Although separated by two centuries the juxtaposition of complimentary works by Hals and Van Gogh transcend time. Echos of the human-experience fill galleries throughout this thought-filled exhibit.

Hals’ painterly brilliance exaggerated personalities, lifestyles and the realities of living in the 1600’s. His penchant for fluid brush strokes captured the relatability of his subject’s nature. From the cock of their heads, glint in their eyes and smirks on their blushing faces, Hals models were actively engaged in life.

Christopher Atkins,Ph.D, Van Otterloo-Weatherbie Director of the Center for Netherlandish Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, suggests a full appreciation of Van Gogh’s talents are enthusiastic translations of Hals dynamic characters and their pastimes. Atkins said “If you look closely at many of Hals paintings his kinetic energy is included in the essence of Van Gogh’s impressionistic legend.”

Van Gogh’s 37 years were prolific. Despite confinement for psychiatric care his imagination freely explored color-filled themes of nature, domesticity and portraiture. As Rembrandt chronicled the socially prominent, flattering the glitterati of his time, Hals and Van Gogh opted to reject idealization of subjects preferring instead to convey emotions.

The legacy of Hals and Van Gogh celebrated the ordinary with extraordinary liberation from convention.  Observing life in bar-rooms, along the shore and within a tightly knit family, the Dutchmen memorialized energy that remains evocative of a soul.

Before guests experience  “Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits” in Boston, music of the artist’s time sets the tone of the exhibit. La Damnation de Faust adds to the atmospherics of standing in Van Gogh’s recreated studio. Scores by Hector Berlioz echo Van Gogh’s colors slashing across canvases in-synch with the tempo of combined passions.  Light and shadow, fast and slow, thick and thin; the fusion of arts are a compass of Van Gogh’s emotional journey to genius.

The primary focus of this exhibit underscores Van Gogh’s longing for intimacy. It tethers his life to the lives of his brother Theo, fellow artists, and an unlikely familial bond with the Roulins. Painting and repainting the growing family confirms their humanity for posterity.  However, this nuanced collection is also a map to understanding Van Gogh’s painterly thesis. It references turning points in his health, his limited capacity to feel attached to anyone, and most importantly a compositional series of emotional brilliance.

Handwritten notes add further dimension to this remarkable exhibit. The letters are heartfelt extensions of Van Gogh’s quest to feel connected to what is extraordinary in life. For him the joy of living an ordinary day filled with meaningful engagement was elusive. As Matthew Teitelbaum, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston said, “Through the longing eyes of Vincent van Gogh, this exhibit is a reminder to treasure the pleasure of ties that bind.”

 

See :The Roulin Family Portraits Now- September 7, 2025

The exhibit will be presented at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam from October 3,2025 – January 11th, 2026,

Headline image: Postman Joseph Roulin Vincent van Gogh 1888