Henri RousseauJungle Paintings

The Jungle Paintings: Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) never visited the tropics or saw a jungle in real life, anymore than he studied the wild animals he painted in their natural habitat. Rousseau's jungle paintings were the fantasies of a city dweller, constructed from visits to the Botanical Gardens in Paris, from books and from his vivid imagination.

Nevertheless they have struck a chord with succeeding generations of viewers, offering a dream of escape from banal reality to an exotic and savage realm.

Detail

Henri Rousseau – Jungle paintings

Jungle with Lion Like Rousseau,

we are going to take inspiration from tropical forests and animals to make patterns.

Jungle motifs - Leaves

Rousseau Leaves Look at the painting

and all the different shapes of leaves and flowers.

Could you use some of these motifs in your work?

Tiger in a Tropical Storm

Rousseau inspired Rousseau looked at th

e place around him and felt sad and bored in the city so he imagined a better, more colourful place.

Taking good ideas

Sleeping Gypsy1897