River and Park Landscape

Henri Rousseau · 1885/90

Medium

Pen and black inks and lead white gouache, with graphite on tan wove paper, perimeter mounted on cream card

Original size

30 × 25 cm (11 13/16 × 9 7/8 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Romanticism

"River and Park Landscape" reveals a quieter, more intimate side of Henri Rousseau — a still, contemplative scene that stands apart from the dense jungle canvases that made him famous. Rousseau was entirely self-taught, working as a Parisian customs officer well into his forties before dedicating himself fully to painting. This drawing, executed in pen, black ink, lead white gouache, and graphite on tan wove paper, demonstrates his careful, almost methodical hand — each element placed with the deliberate simplicity that defines his naive style. The flat recession of water and foliage, the stillness he brings even to moving subjects, give his landscapes an almost dreamlike calm. Widely known by the affectionate nickname "Le Douanier" — the toll collector — Rousseau exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and was later championed by Picasso, who recognised in his work a radical sincerity that bypassed academic convention entirely. This hand-painted oil reproduction translates Rousseau's measured lines and tonal restraint into the warmth of oil on canvas, preserving the quiet mood of the original while giving it a depth and presence suited to life on a wall.