Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau Art analysis

By: Olivia Bertolini Henri Rousseau: Art Analysis

Q1. What is the main movement in the painting and how has Rousseau created it? Rousseau has created this picture to be very realistic; using these tones he has made it looks windy and raining. The main direction is the right, and it almost seems like the tiger is trying to escape, the facial expression and stance look scared and is ready to runaway.

Q2. What do you find realistic in this painting and what looks artificial or dreamlike? All the nature and surrounding (plants, trees and rain) all look realistic, but the tiger has cartoon-like features that make it look artificial like the face and eyes.

Q3. Why do you think Rousseau ha d to exhibit at an independent gallery? I think it was because his art wasn’t familiar to the people of his time, his art is more cartoon-like and colourful, at this time art was mostly dark and realistic

Henri Rousseau: Art Analysis

Q4. Explain what you think his intentions were in his art making and what was his main inspiration “I don’t know whether you feel the way I do, but when I am in these hothouses and see the strange plants from exotic lands it seems to me that I am entering a dream. I feel like a quite different person.”

I think that when he enters the hothouses, he pictures in his head a dreamlike fantasy which inspired him to paint such detailed and vibrate designs.

Q5. Choose a painting that appeals to you and explain why?

“Jungle: Fight Between Tiger and Buffalo”

I chose this picture, because for me it really stood out from the others, I like the texture and tones he has used. The colours are bright which make it stand out and it looks realistic. Henri Rousseau: Art Analysis

Q6. How will this image help me create my own design of an ‘ants’ world? I think this picture will help me a lot with the medians and tones used. I need a lot of detail in my own design and looking at this I can see that the detail Rousseau has put in this picture, which can also help me in other designs later on.

Q7. List the animals used in  Human,  Birds,  Monkeys,  Loins,  an Elephant

Q8.

the ‘The Dream’

Rousseau created fantastic worlds filled with odd juxtapositions, though his imaginary jungles were based on first-hand observation of the lush vegetation. He freely mixed flora and fauna from different environments and used the jungle vegetation as a decorative background, covering large areas of his canvas with a dense pattern of abstraction. Rousseau was similarly unrestrained in his merging of the human and animal worlds. The Dream, which depicts a nude woman lounging in the middle of the jungle, represents the pinnacle of Rousseau's achievement. The domestic and the exotic, and earned the respect of the avant-garde artists. They may also have admired the all over precision of the painting, in which each component —the reclining nude, the wide-eyed lions, the abundant greenery—is rendered with equal weight. As the poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire wrote, "The picture radiates beauty that is indisputable. I believe nobody will laugh this year."