Henri Rousseau, 1844-1910The art of Henri Rousseau: A fascinating mixture of primitive idyll and flight from civilization Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) emerged from humble circumstances - reflected in his nickname, "the customs official." An employee in the Paris customs bureau, Rousseau was an autodidact who incrementally worked his way into a position among the artists who were renewing the art world at the turn of the century. It was a difficult journey - for years the art world laughed at the layman's flat, icon-like figures, simple landscapes and, in his late phase, exotic jungle scenes. But his "naive" compositions in fact became an emblem that piqued the interest of the avant-garde. Rousseau's jungle paintings consisted of ornamental variations of plant leaves, among which he set brilliantly colored predators, natives and naked beauties. In so doing, the artist evinced intuitive principles of design and compositions, which subsequent avant-garde artists had to work out for themselves with great effort. Ultimately winning recognition as an uncompromising modernist, Rousseau inspired comparison with Derain, Cézanne, Matisse and Gauguin. He became acquainted with Apollinaire, Delaunay, Picabia, Brancusi and other important figures; in 1908, Picasso held a legendary banquet in his honour. Today, "Rousseau's myth," a fascinating mixture of primitive idyll and flight from civilization, of concrete and abstract, holds a secure place in the history of art. About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:
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achieve Alfred Jarry allegory Arsène Alexandre artist avant-garde beauty becomes Centenary of Independence cm Moscow cm New York cm Paris cm Private collection cm Washington D.C. colour composition Cubism detail Douanier dream Eugène exotic figure flowers France Gallery Gérôme Gilles Néret Giorgio de Chirico Guillaume Apollinaire Henri Matisse Henri Rousseau hover idyll Ile Saint-Louis imagination Impressionists Indé Ingo F intuitive Jaguar Jean Walter-Paul Guillaume Joséphine jungle picture L'Ymagier landscape Lion motifs Musée de l'Orangerie Museum of Art naive object Odilon Redon Oil on canvas Paris World Exhibition Paul Gauguin peace Picasso Foundation planar poet Pont de Grenelle Pont de Sèvres Port Saint-Nicolas Portrait Portrait-Landscape primitive Quai d'Auteuil Quai Henri reality Rémy de Gourmont Robert Delaunay Rous Rousseau painted Salon des Indépendants seau self-portrait Seurat Signac structure studio style Symbolist Tiger tion toll service Toll Station trees ture two-dimensional View Walter-Paul Guillaume Collection wife Clémence Wilhelm Uhde