Mother by a Cradle (Léonie-Rose Davy-Charbuy)

This young mother sitting next to her baby son’s cradle is the niece of a Paris art dealer. Van Gogh painted her in her uncle’s flat, as indicated by the paintings hanging on the wall.

Tiny dots and flickers of paint animate the picture surface. With its Impressionist technique and subdued tonality, this portrait is typical of the artist’s Paris years.