Tropical Forest: Battling Tiger and Buffalo 1908

Henri Rousseau painted "Tropical Forest: Battling Tiger and Buffalo" without ever leaving France, and it's that wonderful sense of imagined place that really grabs me. The colours are vivid, almost neon, and the application is so flat, so unapologetically there on the surface. Look at how he renders each leaf, each blade of grass, with such care, yet without any attempt to mimic reality. The paint is smooth and opaque, creating a dense, almost impenetrable jungle. There is a real feeling of layering. See that tiger and buffalo, embroiled in their eternal struggle, they are almost secondary to the overwhelming vegetation. Rousseau reminds me a bit of Florine Stettheimer, who, like him, created these intensely personal, slightly awkward, and utterly captivating visions. Both artists invite us to see the world anew, to embrace the beauty of imperfection, and to find joy in the unexpected. It's art as a process of discovery, not just a representation of something already known.