These are my two favorite paintings by surrealist painter Henri Rousseau. The first is titled Carnival Evening, painted in 1886. The second is arguably his most famous painting, painted in 1897 and titled Sleeping Gypsy. Rousseau had no formal training, and actually only began painting seriously in his 40's. His style was ridiculed as childish and flat, though some of his rather important contemporaries recognized his genius, including Picasso and the sculptor Brancusi. There are very few Picasso's that I actually like. It's just a matter of personal preference, obviously, as most people love his work. Anyway, many of Rousseau's paintings are dream-like jungle scenes, which is interesting because he had never been to a jungle- his entire life was spent in and around Paris. I love his work- these two paintings especially for his choice of subject and color. It is very dream-like, and innocent somehow. Rousseau died in the early 1900's, and as with so many artists, his art was not fully appreciated until after his death. Too bad, because I think he was brilliant!
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4 comments:
i love that first one. i would hang that in my home. do you think you could get me an original:)? you are so cultured. i'm like, "hey, look at this Simon Dewey print!" just kidding, but only because i hate Simon Dewey. i'm so going to find a print of that first one.
My ignorance will show in this comment, I've never heard of the guy before but I already love his work.
I really took my breath away. I love art, it makes me so happy
Why is it that I always feel that everyone else is more cultured than I? While I have to hose off my dog because she rolls around in other animals' feces, (It's happened twice in the last month. She's a hunting dog, it's what happens) everyone else is appreciating good art.
I need to get out more. And appreciate people like Henri Rousseau before they die
I'm no more cultured than you guys-I saw some of his work years ago, though I don't remember where and instantly loved it. We discussed him again briefly in my modern art class a couple weeks ago, and it rekindled my appreciation for his genius!
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