Henri Rousseau
"When I step into the hothouses and see the plants from exotic lands, it seems to me that I am in a dream."
Interactive of Henri Rousseau
(National Gallery of Victoria)
(National Gallery of Victoria)
Rousseau,
Henri, AKA Le Douanier Rousseau (1844-1910) was the most renowned of naïve
artists, a Post- Impressionist painter, though he aspired to be a traditional
French painter
Henri
Rousseau became a full-time artist at the age of forty-nine, after retiring
from his post at the Paris customs office
Rousseau
was fascinated with the dream life of the subconscious, many of his artworks
reflect this idea, therefore making his paintings relying highly on the
subjective frame
Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)
Artworks
Known best
for his jungle scenes such as “Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)”, The Sleeping
Gypsy and
Influenced
by a combination of "high" and "low" sources - academic
sculpture, postcards, tabloid illustrations, and trips to the Paris public zoo
and gardens
His works
are characterized by heavy dependence on line, stiff (and unrealistic)
portraiture, wild juxtapositions and flattened perspective
Audience
His Self
taught artistic techniques and unusual compositions left him criticized by art
critics and the public but respected by modern artists like Pablo Picasso and
Wassily Kandinsky as he revealed "the new possibilities of
simplicity."
The
fantastic imagery that resulted from these hybrid influences of both
traditional and tribal means gained popularity with the Surrealists as well.
World
There was
a fascination with the exotic during its colonial expansion in late 1800s which
would have influenced Rousseau’s work
Zoomorphism
Rousseau uses
the animals as a symbol of the dream life of the subconscious
His
juxtaposition of elements are shown particularly within his painting, The Dream
containing a human relaxing on a sofa in a jungle while a tiger looks on.
The juxtaposition
is used to create an emotional response within the viewer thus the use of
animals as symbols is reflective of the zoomorphism style
The Dream
His Influence on my artmaking
Rousseau’s
reliance on line and unrealistic displays definitely reflect a similar style of
art
His use of
bold colours as well as his focus on animals is reflective of my artmaking
process
The
symbolism of the animals is reflective of my large works such as the griffin
and the wolf who are both juxtaposed to the background that they are contained
within
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