Tiger in a Tropical Storm
Henri Rousseau · 1891
Henri Rousseau
France · 1844–1910
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve 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 recognised 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 artists.
Known works
The Sleeping Gypsy
Henri Rousseau · 1897
Museum of Modern Art
The Sleeping Gypsy is an 1897 oil on canvas painting by the French Naïve artist Henri Rousseau (1844 to 1910). It is a fantastical depiction of a lion musing over a sleeping woman on a moonlit night. It is held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, to which it was donated by Olga Guggenheim in 1939.
La encantadora de serpientes
Henri Rousseau · 1907
Musée d'Orsay
The Snake Charmer is a 1907 oil-on-canvas painting by French Naïve artist Henri Rousseau (1844 to 1910). It is a depiction of a woman with glowing eyes playing a flute in the moonlight by the edge of a dark jungle with a snake extending toward her from a nearby tree, two near her legs, and one wrapped around her shoulders. The Snake Charmer was commissioned by Berthe, Comtesse de Delaunay, the mother of artist Robert Delaunay.
Sources
Invite Henri Rousseau into your living room
