Henri Rousseau: Dreams of the Jungle (Pegasus Library Paperback)

Rousseau's series of jungle painitngs are widely seen as the pinnacle of his achievement. The artist's work was and still continues to be the subject of controversy. This book answers many of the questions surrounding Rousseau's importance as an artist, reproducing in high-quality color his jungle paintings and examining them in a wider art-historical context.

As a self-taught artist who started painitng at the age of forty and worked in an unorthodox, naive, style, Rousseau had to struggle to overcome the derision of his contemporaries. That Rousseau succeeded in silencing his critics, winning wide admiration, including that of Picasso and Wasily Kandinsky, owes much to his jungle paintings.

The author of this book has succeeded in drawing together a wide variety of material relating to Rousseau's life and the artistic context of his jungle paintings. The result is a fascinating re-evaluation.