“When…I see the strange plants of exotic lands, it seems to me that I enter into a dream.”

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)

Henri Rousseau one of France’s best realist painters?

It is very funny that Rousseau painted all these exotic landscapes while he never actually left France. He painted from his own imagination. His best and most well known works portray the exotic nature of wild animals and foliage in the jungle.

Rousseau considered himself a realist painter, many critics of that time however did not agree, he was mocked and only after his death public opinion began to change and his popularity grew.

The Dream

A long awaited success during his lifetime was the painting “The Dream” He exhibited this painting in 1910 at the Salon des Independants and received the acknowledgment he always longed for.

The dream by Henri Rousseau

Personally I love Rousseau’s paintings very much. I do not believe they are very realistic but they lead me into a fantastic, dreamy and exotic world where people and animals can live together in peace.

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