An extremely unusual painter, Henri Rousseau is a unique figure in the history of European art. His work is, however, in keeping with his time, the dawn of the 20th century : the exhibition compares his painting with several of his sources of inspiration, which included both academic painting and new painting, and with the avant-garde artists who enthroned him as the father of modernity, The Douanier Rousseau. Archaic Candour is a critical investigation of his art based on a consideration of the notion of archaism.
Archaism is thus the common thread in the works in this exhibition, presented initially at the Doge’s Palace in Venice in 2015, before going on to the Musée d'Orsay next spring. Henri Rousseau’s masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie (from The Snake Charmer to The Wedding Party) will be on display alongside paintings on loan from the most prestigious international institutions. Works by Seurat, Delaunay, Kandinsky and Picasso as well as other lesser-known artists, will evoke the wealth of interconnections woven around the Douanier Rousseau, the catalyst who stimulated an original way of exploring modernity.
8 June 2016, Wednesday, 7.30pm
Documentary Private View
Free admission with tea or coffee
RSVP here
Film starts at 7.30pm sharp. Duration 52mn
RSVP here
Henri Julien Felix Rousseau (21 May 1844~2 September 1910) was a French post-impressionist painter in the Naïve Primitive manner. He was known as Le Douanier Rousseau (The custom officer Rousseau), a humorous description of his occupation as a toll collector. Ridiculed during his lifetime by critics, he came to be recognised as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality. Rousseau’s work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of avant garde artists such as Picasso, Kandinsky or Carrà.
A huge exhibition about his work "Archaic Naivety" is presented in Paris at Musée d'Orsay from March 22 to July 17th, 2016. CHARBON is happy to offer you the opportunity to see the official documentary of this exhibition.