The Musée de l'Orangerie, in collaboration with the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, is organizing a monographic exhibition on the painter Henri Rousseau, bringing together major loans from international institutions.

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) came to Paris from his native Mayenne and, at the age of 49, decided to retire from his job as a customs officer to devote himself entirely to painting. The exhibition aims to go beyond the legends surrounding the name “Douanier Rousseau” to study his artistic career in depth. Thematic sections including his quirky portraits, jungle paintings and views of Paris, will explore the full range of his art and place his work in the context of the modern art market, in which Paul Guillaume (whose collection is housed in the Orangerie) and Albert Barnes were major players. Rousseau was celebrated in a famous banquet organized by Picasso in Montmartre in 1908 and had a great impact on the modern painters of the early 20th century including Picasso, Delaunay, Léger and the Surrealists.