The wedding party 1905

Henri Rousseau painted “The Wedding Party” with oil on canvas, we think around 1905. Look at the way he renders the leaves, with such care and deliberation. Each one feels like a separate little painting. It's like he's saying, "I'm going to paint every leaf, every person, every detail with the same level of attention and love." There’s a flatness that gives the painting a dreamlike quality. The palette is limited: muted greens, blues, and blacks, punctuated by the bride’s white dress. Check out the dog! It is rendered with bold strokes of black, a little blob-like, but full of personality. Rousseau's work always strikes me as so earnest, so heartfelt. He really captures a moment in time, making something magical out of the mundane. Rousseau reminds me a bit of Paul Klee, in that he manages to distill something essential about form and feeling, even if, or maybe because, he wasn’t formally trained.