Self Portrait

The Dream

The Sleeping Gypsy

Let’s talk about Henri Rousseau. Seriously. It’s about time we discuss this hilarious man. He’s French, he’s a “primitive” artist (which means he’s untrained and paints in such a manner) and he’s amazing. As a French postal worker, he began painting, and is today considered a self-taught genius. In his day though, he was seen as a nutter. Seriously. Eventually he started painting so much that his job started falling to the wayside, and thusly he got transferred to the middle of nowhere France. Rousseau apparently thought this was so he would have more time to paint- yes, they did that for me!- but really, they were getting him out of their bureaucratic hair by exiling him, essentially.

Looking at his paintings, you could crop off any one part and still have an amazing piece of art. Even if you would crop out the main playings, like the gypsy or the lion, the way that he paints a landscape and creates this surrealistic environment for his characters- it’s pure awesome, pure talent. You clever man, you.

All images: Wikimedia