Adeline Ravoux

Adeline Ravoux

Vincent van Gogh

In May 1890, Vincent van Gogh arrived in Auvers, a small town north of Paris, where he rented a room at the inn of Arthur Ravoux. This portrait, completed during the last months of the artist’s life, depicts Ravoux’s 13-year-old daughter, Adeline. Van Gogh wrote that rather than photographic resemblance, he wanted his portraits to convey the “impassioned aspects” of contemporary life through the “modern taste for color.”

Colors in this work

Details

Date
1890
Medium
oil on fabric
Dimensions
framed: height 0.725 m, width 0.735 m, depth 0.085 m; unframed: height 0.502 m, width 0.505 m
Origin
Netherlands
Holding institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Image provider
cleveland-museum-of-art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr.

Art Genome Taxonomy

11 tags

Subject Matter

  • Individual Portrait Visual · 100%

    A single young sitter occupies most of the composition in a close upper-body portrait.

  • Face Visual · 100%

    The composition is centered on the sitter’s face and head, which form the primary focal area.

  • Adolescence Metadata · 100%

    The museum description identifies Adeline Ravoux as thirteen years old when depicted.

  • Flora Visual · 99%

    Flowering plants, stems, leaves, and several pale blossoms are visibly arranged along the right side of the composition.

Visual Qualities

  • Dark Colors Visual · 99%

    The composition is dominated by black and very dark blue-green passages, especially in the background and floral area.

  • Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 98%

    Turquoise, yellow-green, rose, ocher, and pale blue-white accents appear with strong chromatic intensity against the dark ground.

  • Rough Visual · 97%

    The heavily worked surface has uneven, tactile ridges and an visibly rough finish rather than smooth, blended modeling.

Medium and Techniques

  • Oil Painting Metadata · 100%

    The Cleveland Museum of Art catalog identifies the work as oil on fabric.

  • Impasto Visual · 98%

    Paint is applied in thick, raised, directional strokes that remain clearly visible across the face, hair, clothing, background, and flowers.

Time Periods

Geographic Regions

  • Dutch Art Metadata · 100%

    The catalog identifies the artist as Dutch and gives the place of origin as the Netherlands.

Source & rights

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890). Adeline Ravoux. Cleveland Museum of Art.

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