Henri Rousseau

Rousseau worked for years as a clerk in the Paris toll service, which earned him the nickname “le Douanier”, and taught himself to paint, exhibiting from 1886 at the jury-free Salon des Indépendants. Critics mocked his flat, meticulous style, but younger artists, Picasso among them, came to admire it. He is best known for his dense jungle scenes with wild animals, composed from visits to the Paris botanical garden and zoo and from illustrated books, without his ever leaving France.

Written by Ochre Editions.