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A detailed portrait of the life and career of Henri Rousseau. It tells of his petty bourgeois background, his attempts to establish himself as an independent artist, and his contact with other artists of the Parisian avant-garde. It also presents sensitive interpretations of his unusual art.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

At a time when the post-impressionists were reacting to Impressionism, the self-taught Henri Rousseau was creating dream-fantasy paintings in his uniquely primitive style a style that influenced artists from Pablo Picasso to Blaue Reiters Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky. This volume, which is part of a series of catalogs of retrospective exhibitions held in Tubingen, Germany, on modern artists such as Czanne and Degas, accompanies the first major show of Rousseau's work in Germany since 1933. The introduction discusses Rousseau's unlikely life as a petit bourgeois in Paris, his method of painting, critical reception of his work, and his relationship with various writers, including Alfred Jarry and Guillaume Apollinaire. Adriani, director of the Kuntshalle Tubingen and a prolific author (e.g., Renoir: Oil Paintings), also includes early photographs of the artist and his circle of friends and acquaintances. The catalog richly explores the 59 paintings in the show, with informative commentaries and full-color reproductions, and includes other works that emphasize the painter's influence on German artists, such as Max Beckmann and Otto Dix. In a well-planned format, footnotes run parallel to the text throughout in the right-hand margin. Public as well as school and special collections will want to provide this book on a beloved artist for their patrons. Ellen Bates, New York City (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Although the literature on Rousseau (1844-1910) is not insubstantial--nearly 200 works were published beginning shortly after his death and the number has increased steadily thereafter--there has been no substantial treatment of his works for some time until the present work, an English translation of the catalog accompanying the February-June 2001 exhibition at the Kunsthalle Tubingen, Henri Rousseau, der Zollner: Grenzganger zur Moderne (Henri Rousseau, the Customs Officer: Crossing the Border of Modernism). Adriani treats the artist's life, career, and works, in short to lengthy entries for 59 paintings, from some 40 identified lenders and other anonymous lenders. Each entry includes references and a large, excellent color image of the work, as well as additional black-and-white visual documentation. Complementary material includes a brief forward, an in-depth introductory essay, "The Customs Officer: Crossing the Border of Modernism," a detailed biography, a section of cited references, a section for exhibitions and exhibition catalogs, and picture credits. A notable feature is the inclusion of entries and images of works by artists who acknowledged Rousseau's influence--Picasso, Marc, Beckmann, Dix, Robert Delaunay, Kandinsky, Leger, Matisse, Macke, and Schlemmer. Well produced and reasonably priced; recommended for all levels of academic and museum collections of modern art. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through faculty. J. Weidman Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art