Henri Rousseau

impressionism & post-impressionism

Henri Rousseau was a post-impressionist painter from Laval, France. His best-known paintings depict jungle scenes, even though he never left France or saw a jungle. His inspiration came from illustrated books and the botanical gardens in Paris, as well as tableaux of “taxidermied” wild animals. He had also met soldiers, during his term of service, who had survived the French expedition to Mexico and listened to their stories of the subtropical country they had encountered.

“The Sleeping Gypsy” is one of my all-time favorite paintings, which I was lucky enough to see at the MoMA in New York. This painting makes me feel so relaxed as if I am in a very pleasant dream. The colors are beautiful and soft and are quite light even though it is a nighttime scene. The colors also create such a perfect sense of temperature, the atmosphere of the painting doesn’t feel too cold, yet doenst feel too warm either.

References

https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/henri-rousseau?product=canvas&sort=popular

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henri-Rousseau

http://www.henrirousseau.net/

http://www.henrirousseau.org/