HENRI ROUSSEAU

21 May 1844, Laval - 2 September 1910, Paris, France

He worked as a lawyer's clerk and then as a custom officer in Paris. Retired in 1885 and began is life as a self-taught painter.

He was also a musician (playing violin, trombone and flute) and writer and a poet.

His first exhibition happened in the same year at the Salon des Indépendents where he had the chance to meet Gauguin, Redon and Seurat.

Ten years later in his exhibition at the Salon d'Automne he met Picasso, Delaunay, Appolinaire and Vlamink.

In 1908 all those artists organized a banquet at Picasso's house in his honour which became famous.

His paintings have an important place in the history of the modern art putting the naive art on the map. Cubists and Surrealists paid tribute to this pure and poetic artist.

In 1909 he was implicated, quite injustly, in a bank fraud. Stop painting and died one year later.

"Henri Rousseau's dream", 1907

"Eve and the serpent", 1904

"Landscape with milkmaids"

"The wedding party"

"The dream"

"The muse inspiring the poet", 1908

"Little cat"

"Centennial of Independence", 1892

"The football players"

"Boy on rocks"

"The Mexican Picador"

"Child with doll", 1905

"The war"

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Portrait of the Artist's second wife with lamp

Self portrait