Henri Rousseau, Known As Le Douanier Rousseau

We authenticate, certify, issue certificates of authenticity (COA), appraise the value and broker the sale of paintings and drawings by LE DOUANIER ROUSSEAU.

French

Born in 1844, Laval, France.

Died in 1910, Paris, France, aged 66.

He spent most of his life in Paris, France.

Typical subject matter:

He typically painted imaginary landscapes and figures. In his canvases, the abundant vegetation is rendered in a decorative, non-realistic manner. The plants in his canvases are sometimes reminiscent of a jungle landscape. Figures of humans, fantastic individuals, or animals often emerge from this luxuriant nature. He also painted individual and group portrait-like works, in which the depicted individuals look rather innocent, and often carry pseudo-attributes such as toys, balls, musical instruments, or manuscript scrolls.

As with his paintings, the main motif of his drawings is the jungle and exotic environments. Sometimes, however, he simply depicted an isolated plant or an everyday setting, including urban elements from the city of Paris such as bridges and buildings.

Typical style:

He is renowned as the main figure of Naïve art, which typically evokes a childlike world and work. As such, the work of Le Douanier Rousseau is characterised by a lack of respect for the rules of perspective, scales and dimensions, the intensity of the colour and the depiction of a great number of details in the depicted subjects. His figures can appear uncanny and sometimes lack realism, and his compositions seem rather flat, lacking depth and perspective. His use of paint is smooth, with no impastos. His palette mostly includes many variations of greens, punctuated by sharp reds, oranges and yellows.

Typical material and media:

He mostly worked oil on canvas.

For his drawing, Le Douanier Rousseau uses a variety of media and techniques, including ink, gouache, pastel, and mixed media on paper.

He has also created a small number of sculptures, mainly in bronze, and a few in wood.

If you own a painting or a drawing by or attributed to LE Douanier Rousseau, we would like to learn about it. Please send us photos or contact us at [email protected] You will generally receive a response within 24 hours.