亨利•卢梭（1844-1910）曾经是巴黎海关处的一名职员，他的梦想是成为一名**画家。49岁的时候，他决定试一试。一开始，卢梭那些色彩艳丽的热带丛林和具有异国情调的动植物被认为幼稚和过于简单而不被认可，但是他独特和固执的风格很快便赢得了赞赏。1886年之后，他经常在巴黎颇具声望的独立沙拉展出作品。1908年，毕加索以“向卢梭致敬”为主题，举办了一场晚宴。虽然卢梭最出名的是以热带场景为主题的作品，但事实上，他从未离开过法国，他的灵感来源于书籍和杂志，以及对自然历史博物馆的参观和从退役的熟人那里听来的轶事。在画布上用油画颜料作画的他倾向于鲜艳的用色风格、生动的表现手法和某种奢华、懒散的肉欲（从他的作品《梦》中身处热带丛林的裸女可以看出）。如今，“卢梭的神话”已经在艺术历史上已经得到认可，并于其他后印象派主义大师，如塞尚、马蒂斯和高更进行了比较。在TASCHEN 的这本可靠的入门书中，我们探讨了这位大器晚成的艺术家成功的原因和他作为现代主义令人意想不到的英雄的影响。“没有什么比观察大自然并把我看到的画出来更让我开心的了”——亨利•卢梭

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) was a clerk in the Paris customs service who dreamed of becoming a famous artist. At the age 49, he decided to give it a try. At first, Rousseau's bright, bold paintings of jungles and exotic flora and fauna were dismissed as childish and simplistic, but his unique and tenacious style soon won acclaim. After 1886, he exhibited regularly at Paris's prestigious Salon des Independants, and in 1908 he received a legendary banquet of honor, hosted by Picasso. Although best known for his tropical scenes, Rousseau, in fact, never left France, relying on books and magazines for inspiration, as well as trips to natural history museums and anecdotes from returning military acquaintances. Working in oil on canvas, he tended toward a vibrant palette, vivid rendering, as well as a certain lush, languid sensuality as seen in the nude in the jungle composition The Dream. Today, "Rousseau's myth" is well established in art history, garnering comparison with such other post-Impressionist masters as Cezanne, Matisse, and Gauguin. In this dependable TASCHEN introduction, we explore the makings of this late-blooming artist and his legacy as an unlikely hero of modernism. "Nothing makes me so happy as to observe nature and to paint what I see." - Henri Rousseau