[IDES 131] Blog post iii: Henri Rousseau Attempts to Enter the Art World

Who was he?

Henri Julien Felix Rousseau was an aspiring, post-impressionist French painter. Although to say he reached his aspirations is up for debate. He was born on May 21st, 1844 with a passion for painting. He spent the first half of his life working as a government tax collector in Paris; he pursued the career after the death of his father in order to support his mother. However, prior to the death of his father, he served in the military which inspired some of his paintings depicted scenes other soldiers experienced during the French expedition to Mexico.

Where did he go?

He was born in Laval, a market town in northwest France. He later moved to Paris to earn money for his widowed mother. That’s where he married and retired to pursue painting. He later moved to a studio in Montparnasse and painted until he died on September 2nd, 1910.

What did he do?

Started painting in his early forties and retired by the of age forty-nine to focus more on his art. He was a self-taught artist thus lacking the knowledge and discipline more conventional artists had at the time. It was an aspect he received a lot of criticism for at the time and wasn’t accepted as an artist by critics until later on.

Many of his paintings depicted fantastical jungle scenes, inspired by the stories he had heard during his service despite never having left France. He mainly used illustrated books and the botanical garden in France as reference for his pieces, which is interesting because his paintings show the over-grown nature of jungles.

Despite the reoccurring theme of the green wilderness in his work, his most famous piece was “The Sleeping Gypsy.” The storybook style of the painting as well as the soft lighting contributed to it being quite the recognizable piece. It was also quite different from his other pieces later on. He even reached out to the mayor of Laval and asked him to purchase the painting, having a significant amount of confidence in his work despite his lack of technical skills.

What was that period of time like?

A new republic had been established after the consistent failures of previous leaders, France shifted to a more democratic system. During his lifetime, Rousseau saw the rise and downfall of France as a whole. He was surrounded by political unrest yet creative innovation, such as the beginning and completion of the Eiffel tower.

My impression:

I picked Rousseau because I found the dream-like style in his paintings quite serene and interesting. His fascination with the jungle and the world outside of France was an aspect that really stood out to me, it felt as though he was trying to escape France through art. Furthermore, despite lacking technical abilities in his work, his passion for art never died along with his aspiration to be recognized by critics at the time. I feel as though there’s a lot I can learn from him, from his perseverance to pursue his craft and with how he used art as a method to cope during difficult times.

Sources:

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/rousseau-henri/artworks/

https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/henri-rousseau.html#slide_1

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henri-Rousseau/Later-paintings-and-recognition

https://www.henrirousseau.org/biography.html