Cleveland Museum of Art

Outskirts of Paris

Henri Rousseau

Date

c. 1897–1905

Medium

oil on fabric

Culture

France, late 19th Century-early 20th Century

Department

Modern European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

In addition to his large jungle scenes, Rousseau also painted small landscapes, including this view of a river or canal on the outskirts of Paris. While retaining a sharp, detailed rendering of objects, Rousseau has abandoned the flat tonality of his earlier works for more blended modeling and freer brushwork. The volumes of the clouds, trees, and houses occupy distinct areas in space, revealing the serenity of an organized world. A self-taught painter who, at the age of 41, quit his job in the Paris municipal toll or tax service to devote himself entirely to art, Rousseau was widely admired by avant-garde artists for his intuitive sense of design and inventive subjects. Rousseau once said to Picasso: "We are the two greatest artists of this era, you in the Egyptian style, I in the modern style."

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