Henri Rousseau: a painter's secrets

Abstract

The Barnes Foundation is home to the world's largest collection of works by the self-taught artist Henri Rousseau (1844-1910). Many of them were bought by Dr. Albert C. Barnes from the Paris art dealer Paul Guillaume, also an avid collector of Rousseau's works. This publication offers a comprehensive study of the eighteen works at the Barnes and places them in dialogue with works from around the globe, including those from Guillaume's collection (now housed at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris). This unprecedented overview of the artist's work reunites paintings that have been apart for more than one hundred years, marking the first time that works from the Foundation's galleries will form part of an exhibition devoted to Rousseau. Working closely with Barnes Foundation conservation staff, Christopher Green and Nancy Ireson consider Rousseau's novel artistic practice and explore his process of adapting works to new purposes. They also examine how Rousseau navigated the art world, driven by the need to market his works in the hope of furthering his career. Richly illustrated with Rousseau's idiosyncratic jungle scenes, landscapes, portraits, and still lifes, this volume presents new findings and includes essays that discuss the market for the artist in the 1920s and the veiled eroticism of the painter's jungle scenes.

Contents

Henri Rousseau's secrets / Nancy Ireson -- Albert C. Barnes and Henri Rousseau : fitting the Douanier into Dr. Barne's vision of art / Christopher Green -- Danger and desire : the strange eroticism of Henri Rousseau's nudes / Martha Lucy -- "The Rousseau case" : an unlikely bull in the art market / Juliette Degennes -- "He never let go of what was essential" : revelations from the technical study of Henri Rousseau's paintings in the Barnes Foundation / Mina Porell, Anya Shutova, and Barbara Buckley -- Rousseau in the Barnes Foundation / Christopher Green.