Portrait of Paul-Eugène Milliet, Second Lieutenant of the Zouaves

Van Gogh painted the Portrait of Paul-Eugène Milliet in Arles in September 1888, capturing the young Zouaves officer who had befriended him during his time in Provence. Milliet was one of Van Gogh's few genuine friends in Arles, sharing his enthusiasm for Japanese prints and aesthetics, and the portrait is painted with affection as well as formal ambition. The Zouaves' distinctive uniform gave Van Gogh a visually striking subject, and the portrait's bold outlines and saturated color show the full influence of his Japanese aesthetic program during this creative peak. The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo holds one of the world's outstanding Van Gogh collections.

Van Gogh's Arles portraits are characterized by strong, flat color areas bounded by confident drawn outlines — the Japonisme he had absorbed translated into a bold, personal idiom. The red background creates an intense chromatic contrast with the blue-green of the uniform, while the face is modeled with vigorous, directional brushstrokes that express character as much as they describe form.