Henri Rousseau as a Master of Overlapping Shapes - Term Paper Example

Henri Rousseau Introduction The processes of industrialization and high-speed technological development have always shifted accents in art. A great phenomenon of Henri Rousseau reflects influence of humanity on nature during technological advancement of the 19th century. With this respect this artist had many opponents around him and he wanted to find the best opportunity for realization of his inner ideas and thoughts on canvas. Actually, the main idea of the nature has changed. It was a favorable background for railroad expansion and no one felt pity to distribution and parceling of lands. Rousseau and the nature The works of Rousseau were often criticized. Throughout his works it is impossible not to recognize the hand of the master. Let us focus on his painting The Hungry Lion Throws itself on the Antelope (1905). We can see wilderness of the nature and cruelty of lion. His vision of the wild nature is rather intriguing. It looks like events developing on the background of nature are correlated with the picturesque background. In this painting it seems like trees are leaning to antelope and want to preserve it from external harm. The Hungry Lion Throws itself on the Antelope (1905) In another painting The Dream (1910) the artist depicts a naked woman on the background of the jungles. It is interesting to see that both paintings considered, represent nature as something huge and great, which prevails over human and animals…In such a way, the artist conceptualized nature as something sacred. Nature for him was an integrative part of human lives and the lives of animals. Pablo Picasso felt a great respect to creative heritage of Henri Rousseau (Caldwell, 2002). He was sure that this young man was able to shock the audience. He only needed a careful and attentive attitude for his paintings. The Dream (1910) Many critics claimed that Henri Rousseau had a “touching desire to imitate nature but whose bureaucratic pursuit of detail barred the way to an overall impression” (Symbolism in France). His paintings were accused of absurd, but maybe those critics just did not want to see the real intention of the painter?.. Rousseau depicted a human being as an object, which could be easily transformed and weird shapes and sizes of people reflected by the author are interesting and impressive. He was a unique artist and he managed to transfer the uniqueness of nature in his paintings. There is no doubt that in his creative mind Rousseau had many interesting ideas. Critics told that Rousseau was an “unconscious artist”. Another impressive painting is To fete Baby! This painting has often been considered as an autobiographical one. It seems like the painter devoted it to himself. It depicts the unity of nature, its integrity with humans and safety of a human being in case he is in the hands of the nature. We can see the marionette in the painting, which symbolizes technological processes, which went at a full pace in the nineteenth century. A toy in the hands of the child is supposedly the artist himself... To fete Baby! (1903)  The artist confessed that he was lacking of intuition of nature. He accused his parents of having missed a chance of teaching him to love nature. He had a tragic life and his four children died when they were young .He used to depict children, but they were often larger than nature on their background. Let us consider the painting Child with Doll. A girl’s appearance looks quite unusual. It looks like she has a face of an adult. She sits/stands in an awkward pose. There is an intentional opposition of a child to the blue sky background. Her red dress forms a contrast to the blue sky. The spots of flowers on the floor and the spots on the dress create an integrative picture. To my mind, when he depicts children on the background of the nature, he wants to show that childhood is a period of a favorable attitude to nature. In the older years adults use every opportunity to make a negative impact on nature. Rousseau said: "Nothing makes me happier than to contemplate nature and paint it" (Rousseau, 2001). Henri Rousseau used simple overlapping shapes to create a sense of shallow space. This technique tells our eyes that one object is in front of another - that one object is close, while another object is further away. Child with Doll (1904) The Wedding Party (1905) It seems like Rousseau was a master of intrigue and he used humans depicted in the paintings as designer blocks. For example, in the picture The Wedding Party (1905) it looks like the bride is floating above the ground and the man to the left of the painting too. The Wedding Party (1905) The trees in this painting are located in the interesting manner too. Trees near the bride are whiter, stronger and younger, while the trees on the side of the groom are darker and thinner. To my mind, the leaves on the trees from the side of the groom remind us about cents or money. White bodies of the trees from the side of the bride remind about fertility, plumpness, ability of a woman to give birth to a child. Trees are planted in a straighter row from the side of the bride, which can symbolize a woman, who will leave calm and a happy life with her only one man. The trees from the side of the groom are not so straight and they can symbolize future husband’s cheat. Conclusion 19th century is a perfect example of the artist’s subjection to external factors. Critics always claim that Rousseau considered the nature as a means or background of almost all his works but the treated in his childish manner. There is no wonder, why the artist uses nature as the background of his paintings, when he opposes humans to the nature, when he shows his unconscious desire to depict integrity of human spirit and the spirit of nature. Unfortunately, humans violated these laws and used nature as the means for realization of their technological innovations. Henri Rousseaus was a master of overlapping shapes and he played with the positions of different objects in his paintings. Works cited Caldwell, N. S. (2002). Incident Report: Picasso’s Banquet for Rousseau. The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 289. Web. July 17, 2012. Questia. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002468895 Henri Rousseau. 2001. Web. July 17, 2012. http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/orangerie/stylesb.html Symbolism in France: Henri Rousseau. Web. July 17, 2012. http://www.all-art.org/symbolism/rousseau06.htm Read More