Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau

The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope, 1905

​Among French painters, my favorite painter after Cézanne is Henri Rousseau. And perhaps some part of my artistic world is inspired by Rousseau, right after Cézanne.

​Through Rousseau, I was able to think about drawing what I cannot see. Rousseau lived his entire life in poverty. He ended his life in a charity hospital in Paris. Maybe that's why he had never been abroad in his life. But mysteriously, the jungle in his paintings is more elaborate and beautiful than the real jungle. He visited botanical gardens, observed plants and flowers, and translated them into his world of work. By giving wings to his imagination, his works become very mysterious, exotic, and dreamy. When you look at his work, you realize that art has no limits. That is why art has value as art.

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) was born as the son of a poor tinsmith in a small city in northwestern France. And he did not receive formal art education due to his financial situation. If it were like now, he would have been able to learn various techniques such as perspective and composition through many channels such as YouTube, but at that time, such things were difficult. Rousseau studied on his own by visiting nearby art galleries and copying artists' works and postcards.

His various creative and pure attempts that were not based on the basics of painting actually enriched his world of work. Rousseau's painting style influenced later Cubism, and works recreated from his imagination later led to Surrealism. Looking at this fact, we can clearly see how great the influence he left behind. He simply painted to the best of his ability in the given environment, and it is surprising that this action had a great impact on the history of art.

Without even receiving a formal education, he made his debut at the late age of 49 and was ridiculed and ignored by the art world. But Rousseau never gave up his own path. He had to work as a customs officer to make a living, so he came out and painted every weekend. These types of painters are called ‘Sunday painters.’

​He continued to paint throughout his life, working as a Sunday painter. He regularly participated in what are now called artist open calls. However, the art world at the time ridiculed his work. If you look at the portrait below, you can imagine how much he would have been laughed at compared to the painting style of the time.​

https://minimal078.tistory.com/2

​The person who recognized him, who had been the subject of ridicule from critics, was none other than Picasso.

Picasso once said, “I devoted my life to learning how to draw like a child.” For him, the simple and pure paintings of Henri Rousseau, unbound by any formality, were a great inspiration. It is said that Picasso collected Henri Rousseau's paintings with the money he earned from selling his own paintings. As he gained recognition from the artists around him, critics' evaluations began to change. The work "Dream", which was submitted to the Indépendant exhibition in 1910, received praise from critics, and Rousseau achieved the success he had longed for as an artist.

The Muse Inspiring the Poet, Oil on canvas, 146.2×96.9cm, 1909, Kunstmuseum Basel

What I like more than anything, as much as his indomitable will, is the color green he presents in his works. Rousseau is a pioneer of so-called ‘landscape portraits’. As its name suggests, it is a style of drawing people with natural scenery in the background. In particular, he left many portraits painted with forests in the background, and perhaps that is why he used such a variety of green colors that one analysis said, “There are about 50 greens in one of Rousseau’s paintings.” His green color seems to give us a sense of stability.​

I recommend that you study the works of Henri Rousseau if you want to create your own art world and style. Then, you will be attracted to the clear message of his work.

​I find it fascinating that he was clumsy. Because he was clumsy, he was able to be himself. He painted with his own colors without any decoration or pretense. And his paintings became original works. This is the spirit that I am researching and drawing through Altamira cave paintings.