At the age of 49, Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) gave up a steady job as a tax collector to pursue painting full-time. Some of his peers wondered why he bothered: entirely self-taught and fond of painting fantastical jungle scenes, Rousseau was dismissed by contemporary critics, who saw his work as childlike. But even in his own lifetime this so-called immaturity came in handy – when on trial for fraud in 1907, Rousseau pointed to his own paintings as a sign of his naivety – and after his death artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Kahlo and members of the Blue Rider group cited him as an inspiration. The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia owns 18 paintings by Rousseau, more than any other museum, and is collaborating with the Musée de l’Orangerie – his second-biggest institutional fan – to put on the largest show of the painter’s colourful scenes in the United States in nearly 20 years (19 October–22 February 2026).
Find out more from the Barnes Foundation’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
