Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Guggenheim was a French

post-impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

painter in the

Naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector. He started painting seriously in his early forties; by age 49, he retired from his job to work on his art full-time. Ridiculed during his lifetime by critics, he came to be recognized as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality. Rousseau's work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...

artists.Roberta Smith (14 July 2006
"Henri Rousseau: In imaginary jungles, a terrible beauty lurks"
''The New York Times''. Accessed 14 July 2006

Biography

Early life

Rousseau was born in

Laval, Mayenne Laval () is a town in western France, about west-southwest of Paris, and the capital of the Mayenne department. Its inhabitants are called ''Lavallois''. The commune of Laval proper, without the metropolitan area, is the 7th most populous in ...

, France, in 1844 into the family of a tinsmith; he was forced to work there as a small boy. He attended Laval High School as a day student, and then as a boarder after his father became a debtor and his parents had to leave the town upon the seizure of their house. Though mediocre in some of his high school subjects, Rousseau won prizes for drawing and music.''Henri Rousseau'', (1979), Dora Vallier After high school, he worked for a lawyer and studied law, but "attempted a small perjury and sought refuge in the army." He served four years, starting in 1863. With his father's death, Rousseau moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

in 1868 to support his widowed mother as a government employee. In 1868, he married Clémence Boitard, his landlord's 15-year-old daughter, with whom he had six children (only one survived). In 1871, he was appointed as a collector of the octroi of Paris, collecting taxes on goods entering Paris. His wife died in 1888 and he married Josephine Noury in 1898.

Career

From 1886, he exhibited regularly in the

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

, and, although his work was not placed prominently, it drew an increasing following over the years. '' Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)'' was exhibited in 1891, and Rousseau received his first serious review when the young artist Félix Vallotton wrote: "His tiger surprising its prey ought not to be missed; it's the alpha and omega of painting." Yet it was more than a decade before Rousseau returned to depicting his vision of jungles. In 1893, Rousseau moved to a studio in Montparnasse where he lived and worked until his death in 1910. In 1897, he produced one of his most famous paintings, ''La Bohémienne endormie'' ('' The Sleeping Gypsy''). In 1905, Rousseau's large jungle scene '' The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope'' was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants near works by younger leading avant-garde artists such as

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...

, in what is now seen as the first showing of

The Fauves Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' ( French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values reta ...

. Rousseau's painting may even have influenced the naming of the Fauves. In 1907, he was commissioned by artist

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstra ...

's mother, Berthe, Comtesse de Delaunay, to paint '' The Snake Charmer''.

Le Banquet Rousseau

When

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

happened upon a painting by Rousseau being sold on the street as a canvas to be painted over, the younger artist instantly recognised Rousseau's genius and went to meet him. In 1908, Picasso held a half serious, half burlesque banquet in his studio at Le Bateau-Lavoir in Rousseau's honour. ''Le Banquet Rousseau'', "one of the most notable social events of the twentieth century," wrote American poet and literary critic John Malcolm Brinnin, "was neither an orgiastic occasion nor even an opulent one. Its subsequent fame grew from the fact that it was a colorful happening within a revolutionary art movement at a point of that movement's earliest success, and from the fact that it was attended by individuals whose separate influences radiated like spokes of creative light across the art world for generations."John Malcolm Brinnin, ''The Third Rose, Gertrude Stein and Her World'', An Atlantic Monthly Press Book, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Toronto, 1959
/ref> Guests at the ''banquet Rousseau'' included: Guillaume Apollinaire,

Jean Metzinger Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...

, Max Jacob, Marie Laurencin,

André Salmon André Salmon (4 October 1881, Paris – 12 March 1969, Sanary-sur-Mer) was a French poet, art critic and writer. He was one of the early defenders of Cubism, with Guillaume Apollinaire and Maurice Raynal. Biography André Salmon was born in ...

Maurice Raynal Portrait of Maurice Raynal (1911), by Juan Gris. Maurice Raynal (3 February 1884, Paris – 18 September 1954, Suresnes) was a French art critic and an ardent propagandist of cubism. Some publications *''Essai de Définition de la Peinture Cu ...

, Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, Leo Stein, and

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

. Maurice Raynal, in ''Les Soirées de Paris'', 15 January 1914, p. 69, wrote about "Le Banquet Rousseau". Years later the French writer

recalled the setting of the illustrious banquet:

Retirement and death

After Rousseau's retirement in 1893, he supplemented his small pension with part-time jobs and work such as playing a violin in the streets. He also worked briefly at '' Le petit Journal'', where he produced a number of its covers. Rousseau exhibited his final painting, '' The Dream'', in March 1910, at the Salon des Independants. Henri Rousseau - Le Rêve - Google Art Project

Henri Rousseau - Le Rêve - Google Art Project

In the same month Rousseau suffered a

phlegmon A phlegmon is a localized area of acute inflammation of the soft tissues. It is a descriptive term which may be used for inflammation related to a bacterial infection or non-infectious causes (e.g. pancreatitis). Most commonly, it is used in co ...

in his leg, one which he ignored. In August, when he was admitted to the

Necker Hospital Necker may refer to: * Necker (surname) * ''Necker'' (ship), several ships * Neckerchief, cloth worn round the neck * Necker cube, optical illusion * Necker Island (Hawaii) * Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) * Necker–Enfants Malades Hosp ...

where his son had died, he was found to have

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the gan ...

in his leg. After an operation, he died from a

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of cr ...

on 2 September 1910. At his funeral, seven friends stood at his grave: the painters Paul Signac and Manuel Ortiz de Zárate; the artist couple

and

Sonia Terk Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...

; the sculptor

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th-century and a pioneer of modernism, ...

; Rousseau's landlord Armand Queval, and Guillaume Apollinaire, who wrote the epitaph Brâncuși put on the tombstone:

We salute you Gentle Rousseau you can hear us. Delaunay, his wife, Monsieur Queval and myself. Let our luggage pass duty free through the gates of heaven. We will bring you brushes paints and canvas. That you may spend your sacred leisure in the light and Truth of Painting. As you once did my portrait facing the stars, lion and the gypsy.

Artistry

Paintings

Rousseau claimed he had "no teacher other than nature", although he admitted he had received "some advice" from two established Academic painters, Félix Auguste Clément and

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...

. Essentially, he was self-taught and is considered to be a naïve or primitive painter. His best-known paintings depict jungle scenes, even though he never left France or saw a jungle. Stories spread by admirers that his army service included the French expeditionary force to Mexico are unfounded. His inspiration came from illustrations in children's books and the botanical gardens in

, as well as tableaux of taxidermy wild animals. During his term of service, he had also met soldiers who had survived the French expedition to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, and he listened to their stories of the subtropical country they had encountered. To the critic

Arsène Alexandre Arsène Alexandre (16 August 1859, Paris – 1 October 1937, Brain sur Allonnes) was a French art critic. He was a contributor to ''L'Événement'', ''Le Paris'' and ''L'Éclair'' and in 1894 was one of the founders of the satirical journal '' ...

, he described his frequent visits to the Jardin des Plantes: "When I go into the glass houses and I see the strange plants of exotic lands, it seems to me that I enter into a dream." Along with his exotic scenes there was a concurrent output of smaller topographical images of the city and its suburbs. He claimed to have invented a new genre of ''portrait landscape'', which he achieved by starting a painting with a specific view, such as a favourite part of the city, and then depicting a person in the foreground.

Criticism and recognition

Rousseau's flat, seemingly childish style was disparaged by many critics; people often were shocked by his work or ridiculed it.''Henri Rousseau, 1844–1910'' By Cornelia Stabenow
page 10 His ingenuousness was extreme, and he always aspired, in vain, to conventional acceptance. Many observers commented that he painted like a child, but the work shows sophistication with his particular technique.

Legacy

Rousseau's work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of avant-garde artists, including

, Jean Hugo,

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as " tubism") which he gradually modified into a more figurative, p ...

, Max Beckmann, and the Surrealists. According to Roberta Smith, an art critic writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "Beckmann’s amazing self-portraits, for example, descend from the brusque, concentrated forms of Rousseau’s portrait of the writer Pierre Loti."Joann Moser (1985) "Pre-Cubist Works, 1904–1909" in ''Jean Metzinger in Retrospect''. The University of Iowa Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press. pp. 34, 35. In 1911, a retrospective exhibition of Rousseau's works was shown at the

. His paintings were also shown at the first Blaue Reiter exhibition. Critics have noted the influence of Rousseau on

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

's poetry. See, for instance, Stevens's " Floral Decorations for Bananas" in the collection ''Harmonium''. The American poet Sylvia Plath was a great admirer of Rousseau, referencing his art, as well as drawing inspiration from his works in her poetry. The poem, "Yadwigha, on a Red Couch, Among Lilies" (1958), is based upon his painting, ''The Dream'', whilst the poem "Snakecharmer" (1957) is based upon his painting ''The Snake Charmer''. The song "The Jungle Line", by

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her st ...

, is based upon a Rousseau painting. Underground comic artist

Bill Griffith William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited to ...

drew a four-page biographical sketch of Rousseau, ''A Couch in the Sun'', which was included in issue #2 of the ''Arcade'' anthology. The visual style of

Michel Ocelot Michel Ocelot (born 27 October 1943) is a French writer, designer, storyboard artist and director of animated films and television programs (formerly also animator, background artist, narrator and other roles in earlier works) and a former p ...

's 1998 animation film, ''

Kirikou and the Sorceress ''Kirikou and the Sorceress'' (french: Kirikou et la Sorcière, ) is a 1998 traditional animation feature film written and directed by Michel Ocelot. Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves h ...

'', is partly inspired by Rousseau, particularly the depiction of the jungle vegetation. A Rousseau painting was used as an inspiration for the 2005 animated film ''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

''. Rousseau's 1908 painting ''Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo'' was used as the inspiration for a series of 2021 advertisements concerning the rebrand of

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

into the

metaverse In science fiction, the "metaverse" is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. In colloquial usa ...

company

Meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or end ...

Exhibitions

Two major museum exhibitions of his work were held in 1984–85 (in Paris, at the Grand Palais; and in New York, at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

) and in 2001 (Tübingen, Germany). "These efforts countered the persona of the humble, oblivious naïf by detailing his assured single-mindedness and tracked the extensive influence his work exerted on several generations of vanguard artists," critic Roberta Smith wrote in a review of a later exhibition. A major exhibition of his work, "Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris", was shown at the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

from November 2005 for four months, organised by the Tate and the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French a ...

, where the show also appeared. The exhibition, encompassing 49 of his paintings, was on display at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of ch ...

in Washington from 16 July to 15 October 2006. A major collection of Rousseau's work was shown at the

Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais (English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th ...

from 15 March to 19 June 2006.

Gallery

File:Henri-Julien-Félix Rousseau, French - Carnival Evening - Google Art Project.jpg, ''A Carnival Evening,'' 1886,

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin ...

, Philadelphia, PA File:Henri Rousseau - Myself- Portrait – Landscape - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Self Portrait'', 1890, National Gallery, Prague File:Henri Rousseau - Le Moulin.jpg, ''Le Moulin (The Mill)'', c. 1896,

Musée Maillol The Musée Maillol is an art museum located in the 7th arrondissement at 59–61, rue de Grenelle, Paris, France. History In 1964, Dina Vierny donated Maillol's monumental sculptures to the state. André Malraux, Minister of Culture, installs ...

, Paris File:Boy on the Rocks - 1895-7 - Henri Rousseau.jpg, '' Boy on the Rocks'', 1895–1897,

, Washington, D.C. File:La Bohémienne endormie.jpg, '' The Sleeping Gypsy'', 1897,

MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; ...

, New York File:Douanier Rousseau tour Eiffel.jpg, ''La tour Eiffel peinte par Henri Rousseau'', 1898, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas File:Henri Rousseau - Self-portrait of the Artist with a Lamp.jpg, ''Self-portrait of the Artist with a Lamp'', 1903 File:Henri Rousseau - The Merry Jesters.jpg, ''The Merry Jesters'', 1906, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA File:Henri Rousseau - The Flamingoes.jpg, ''The Flamingoes'', 1907, Private collection File:HENRI ROUSSEAU - La Encantadora de Serpientes (Museo de Orsay, París, 1907. Óleo sobre lienzo, 169 x 189.5 cm).jpg, ''The Snake Charmer'', 1907,

, Paris File:Rousseau theRepastOfTheLion.jpg, '' The Repast of the Lion'', c.1907,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York File:Henri Rousseau - Exotic Landscape.jpg, ''Exotic Landscape'', 1908, Private collection File:Henri Rousseau - Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo.jpg, ''Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo'', 1908,

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

, Cleveland, Ohio File:Henri Rousseau - Vue de pont de Sèvres.jpg, ''View of the Bridge in Sevres and the Hills of Clamart, Saint-Cloud and Bellevue with biplane, balloon and dirigible'', 1908,

Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...

File:Henri Rousseau - Combat of a Tiger and a Buffalo.jpg, ''In a Tropical Forest Combat of a Tiger and a Buffalo'', 1908–1909,

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...

, St. Petersburg File:Henri Rousseau - The Football Players.jpg, ''The Football Players'', 1908,

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, New York Image:La muse inspirant le poète.jpg, ''Muse Inspiring the Poet'' (Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire and Marie Laurencin), 1909, Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland File:The Equatorial Jungle.JPG, ''The Equatorial Jungle'', 1909,

, Washington, D.C. File:Henri Rousseau - Bouquet of Flowers (Tate Gallery).jpg, ''Bouquet of Flowers'', 1910,

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, London File:Henri Rousseau - Portrait de Monsieur X.jpg, '' Pierre Loti'', 1910, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland

References

External links

Henrirousseau.org
118 works by Henri Rousseau
Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris, at the National Gallery of Art
Brief introduction to the artist's life and art. Entry contains links to two large reproductions of Rousseau paintings in the National Gallery of Art, a 4th grade lesson relating Rousseau's paintings to ecology, and hands-on activities suitable for classroom or home study.

*
''The Sleeping Gypsy''
in the MoMA Online Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Rousseau, Henri 1844 births 1910 deaths People from Laval, Mayenne 19th-century French painters French male painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Post-impressionist painters Naïve painters Self-taught artists Burials at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux 19th-century French male artists Deaths from surgical complications