Henri Rousseau At the age of 49, Henri Rousseau retired from his position at the Paris customs office, where he worked and earned the moniker "Le Douanier Rousseau," or "the congestion charge collector." The self-taught Rousseau, who admired artists like Jean-Leon Gerome, and William-Adolphe Bouguereau, came to represent the stereotypical naive artist. He earned the esteem and admiration of contemporary painters like Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky for unveiling "the endless opportunities of simplicity," despite his inexperienced technique and strange compositions, which earned him the scorn of critics of the day. Rousseau is most renowned for his lush jungle themes, which... View more
