Post-Van Gogh Retrospective:
Happy Art Collectors

Dr. T.F. Chen

Happy Zouave
Oil and collage on canvas
48" x 36"
1990

In a letter to his brother Theo on June 29, 1888, Vincent van Gogh wrote:
I have a model at last, a Zouave-he is a lad with a small head, a bull's neck and the look of a tiger...the bust portrait I painted of him was terribly harsh, in a uniform of the same blue as enameled pans, with faded orange-red piping, and two stars on the chest; an ordinary blue and very difficult to make. i set off the catlike, heavily tanned head covered by a red kepi against a door painted green and the orange-colored stones of a wall. So it is a crude combination of tones, not easy to manage.

The Zouaves were soldiers of the French light infantry regiment, originally recuited in Algeria. The Zouave whom Van Gogh painted was second Lieutenant Milliet who frequented the cafe in Arles where Van Gogh met him.

In Chen's "Happy Zouave," Lieutenant Millet is seated in front of Paul Cezanne's "Dessert" (1873-77) of some apples, bread, and wine upon a table with white tablecloth, which contrast with the deep blue uniform of the Zouave. The yellow and red colors of the bread and apples seem to merge with the golden stars and the orange-red piping, up towards the Zouave's head with red kepi. These subjects are set against a wall full of scraps of torn advertisements, including a Toulouse-Lautrec of poster of "Jane Avril" (1893) which appears intact, yet half-covered by a pink curtain.

This background setting looks rather like a section of neglected wall at Montmartre or the Latin Quarter in Paris. One can imagine that layers and layers of posters and graffiti, these walls can display a kind of unexpected imagery, sometimes reminiscent of abstract paintings or Pop Art. Jacques de la Villegle and Mimmo Rotella are perhaps the most noted among the "affichistes" who cut out layers of pasted advertisements and posters from city walls and then presents them as artworks.

Whether the Zouave Milliet is aware of the background artwork or not, at least he is happy to enjoy Cezanne's dessert in front of him!