Rabbit 1908

Henri Rousseau painted this charming Rabbit in 1908. Rousseau was a self-taught artist working in France, and the directness of his vision resulted in some of the most original works of the early 20th century. Rousseau spent most of his life working as a clerk for the Paris city government, and it wasn't until his late 40s that he devoted himself to painting full-time. He submitted his works to the official Salon, but also to the Salon des Indépendants, a venue established in 1884, specifically for artists outside the traditional academic system. The imagery of Rabbit is simple and direct. However, Rousseau’s work was always of great interest to avant-garde painters such as Picasso and the Surrealists, who saw in the so-called naive style a freedom from convention, opening new paths for modern art. Rousseau’s approach reminds us that art history is not a closed book but always open to fresh perspectives.