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The Rousseau monograph offers an in-depth introduction to the life and work of Henri Rousseau, the self-taught artist who began painting in his late 40s after a career as a customs official. His bold, flattened depictions of exotic flora and fauna are explored alongside the public and critical reception that shifted from derision to admiration by figures including Picasso and the Surrealists. The book traces his legacy as an influential figure in the development of modernism, examining the qualities that made his naive style so distinctive and enduring.
Henri Rousseau claimed he had “no teacher other than nature.” A retired customs official who only began painting in his late 40s, his simple, bold paintings of exotic flora and fauna attracted public derision at first, but went on to gain adulation from Picasso, the Surrealists, and long beyond. This dependable introduction explores the makings of this late-blooming artist and his legacy as an unlikely hero of modernism.
