Henri Rousseau (French, 1844–1910)

b. 1844 — d. 1910

Self-taught artist Henri Rousseau was born in Laval in 1844. He entered the military at the age of eighteen and served as a saxophone player in an infantry band. Most biographers discount his claim of traveling abroad during the Mexican campaign. In 1871 Rousseau left the military to join the customs service, where he spent fourteen years working on the outskirts of Paris as a minor inspector. After retiring with a small pension in 1885, he pursued the career of a painter and sought portrait commissions. From 1886 to 1910, he exhibited on a regular basis at the Salon des Indépendants, and after 1905, at the Salon d'Automne. Through these activities he became friendly with other artists, including Gauguin (q.v.), Pissarro (q.v.), Seurat (q.v), Paul Signac (1863-1935), and Redon (q.v.) who affectionately called him "le douanier" (customs officer). Rousseau's paintings were poorly received, and frequently ridiculed in the press, until he attracted a small group of admirers in the early years of this century. This group included Pablo Picasso, Maurice de Vlaminck, Robert Delaunay, Max Weber, and Ardengo Soffici, along with the writers Alfred Jarry, Max Jacob, André Salmon, and Guillaume Apollinaire. In 1908, a famous banquet honoring Rousseau was organized at Picasso's studio. Avant-garde artists admired Rousseau's direct, simple vision and his innate talent at clear, pictorial design. However, he aspired to paint in the academic manner of Gérôme (q.v.) and Bouguereau (q.v.). Rousseau reportedly told Picasso: "We are the two greatest artists of this era-you in the Egyptian style, I in the modern style."1 Despite growing acclaim in his late years, Rousseau struggled for sales and was forced to supplement his meager income by giving private painting and violin lessons. He occasionally sold works through the dealers Ambroise Vollard and Wilhelm Uhde. In 1909 Rousseau was convicted of complicity in a bank fraud, but authorities suspended the sentence because of his age and apparent failure to comprehend his role in the crime. Rousseau died in Paris of pneumonia in 1910. In 1911 Uhde organized a retrospective at the Indépendants and published the first biography of Rousseau.