Best Artwork by Henri Rousseau

French post-Impressionist artist Henri Rousseau earned the nickname “Le Douanier” during his career because he was largely self-taught.

The Boy on the Rocks is a very strange painting. It depicts a boy sitting close to the sea on sharp rocks. The child looks a little strange. Often, there is “dreamlike energy” and “hidden poetry” in the artist’s paintings.

Carnival Evening was created soon after Rousseau began showing his artwork. In the painting, a pair is dressed in carnival attire in a moonlit setting with desolate trees. The woman is clothed in a frock with a conical hat, and the man is dressed like a clown. Looking closely at this artwork, the viewer can see a street light illuminating a hut from which a face appears.

One of the final paintings Rousseau created was The Dream. This artwork depicts a nude woman lying on a couch, which is in the middle of the jungle. You see her surrounded by tropical plants and wild animals. There is a flute player in the bushes. It can be viewed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

The Football Players is an artwork depicting players with mustaches that resemble the artist’s own. Supposedly in a Parisian park, four nearly identical men are enjoying themselves in sport. They appear to be dressed in striped pajamas and are actually playing rugby.

A lion attacks its prey in the jungle painting The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope. Rousseau frequently visited the Botanical Garden in Paris to create preliminary drawings of the animals, which served as his inspiration.

Myself. Portrait Landscape was created in 1890. This artwork depicts the artist wearing, as a buttonhole, the insignia of the Order des Palmes Academiques. This was awarded to a namesake of his but never to him. His two wives' first names are on the palette. There is the Pont du Carrousel, the shadow of a hot-air balloon, and the Eiffel Tower in the background. A bridge, a ship with flags, and some figures can be seen as well.

A lion is depicted in The Repast of the Lion devouring his prey. The sun dominates the artwork’s central focal point. Illustrations of lions found in modern periodicals were the artist’s inspiration.

Self-Portrait of the Artist with a Lamp was created in 1903. The painting can be seen at the Musée Picasso in Paris, France.

The artwork The Sleeping Gypsy was completed in the late 1800s. The paintings were created by the artist in his Montmartre studio. The painting depicts a Black Gypsy woman dozing off next to a water-drinking jar and a mandolin. In the moonlit desert terrain a lion comes with an inquisitive gaze.

The Snake Charmer was completed during the final years of Rousseau’s life. This painting depicts a flute player, or “snake charmer.” The woman plays the flute in a moonlit jungle with wide open eyes. A snake is dangling around her shoulders. She is surrounded by tropical plants and wild animals.

Throughout his career, Rousseau painted over 25 jungle art pieces. The first is Tiger in a Tropical Storm. This painting depicts a tiger in the forest during a downpour, lighted by a spark of lightning. The viewer must use their imagination to determine the outcome because the tiger’s prey is beyond the edge of the canvas. In order to depict the verdant environs of a jungle, the artist painted in layers to come up with a variety of green hues. He came up with his won technique for painting torrential rain by running silver paint streaks diagonally across the canvas.