Rendezvous in the Forest

1889

Henri Rousseau

Artist, French, 1844 - 1910

Beyond a dense screen of stylized, dark brown tree trunks, bending branches, and sage and moss-green leaves, a man and woman ride side-by-side on horseback and embrace in this vertical landscape painting. Both people have pale skin. Closest to us, two spindly trees almost reach the top edge of the canvas, their stylized leaves silhouetted against the sky. Trees and bushes with laurel and dark green leaves create a band across the foreground. Near the bottom center of the composition, the woman is closer to us but she turns her face to touch noses with the man riding next to her. Long, straight blond hair flows to her waist. She has pronounced, dark eyes under heavy brows, and a large nose. She wears a burgundy-red jacket with horizontal, gold stripes across the chest. A white shirt beneath shows through where the jacket gapes open at the chest and at her cuffs. She holds the reins of her black horse in her left hand. The man turns his torso toward the woman and wraps his left arm, to our right, around the woman’s shoulders. He looks at her with black eyes under dark brows. He has a black, handlebar mustache and white hair. He wears a black and gold three-corner hat and a navy-blue jacket with gold braid in front and around the neck. His horse is brown with a silvery-white mane. Behind the people, the forest comes about two-thirds of the way up the composition. One tan-brown cloud hangs in the sky that lightens from seafoam green along the top edge to oyster white along the horizon. The artist signed the painting in the lower right: “Henri Rousseau.”

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

A gift from the artist to his baker, Paris, in 1889. Bela Hein, Paris; sold June 1931 to Marie N. Harriman [1903-1970] and W. Averell Harriman [1891-1986], New York;[1] W. Averell Harriman Foundation; gift 1972 to NGA.
[1] According to Harriman collection records in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Henri Rousseau, Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, 1931, no. 3

1932

  • The Nineteenth Century: French Art in Retrospect. The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, 1932, no. 54

  • French Painting, Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, 4-16 April, 1932, no cat.

1933

  • Literature and Poetry in Paintings Since 1850, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 1933, no. 65.

1937

  • Constable and the Landscape, Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, 1937, no. 19

1939

  • Modern French Masters, Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, 1939, no.12

1940

  • Masterpieces of Art. European & American Paintings 1500-1900, New York World's Fair, 1940, no. 365

1942

  • Henri Rousseau, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942, unnumbered cat., repro.

1948

  • Six Masters of Post-Impressionism, Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1948, no. 37, repro.

1955

  • Albany Institute of History and Art, 1955, no. cat

1960

  • Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni: An Exhibition, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, 1960, no. 85, repro.

1961

  • Exhibition of the Marie and Averell Harriman Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1961, unnumbered catalogue, repro. 23.

1984

  • Henri Rousseau, Palais du Louvre, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1984-1985.

1993

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Pamela Harriman, U.S. Embassy residence, Paris, France, 1993-1997.

2001

  • Henri Rousseau: Der Zöllner - Grenzgänger zur Moderne, Kunsthalle Tübingen, 2001, no. 8, repro.

2005

  • Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris, Tate Modern, London; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2005-2006, no. 14, repro.

2010

  • Henri Rousseau, Fondation Beyeler, Basel; Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, 2010, no. 4, repro.

2018

  • Outliers and American Vanguard Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2018-2019, no. 31, repro.

Bibliography

1961

  • Bouret, Jean. Henri Rousseau; Catalogue raisonne. Neuchatel, 1961: no.62.

1970

  • Vallier, Dora. L'opera completa di Rousseau il Doganiere. Paris: Flammarion, 1970.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 312, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 536, no. 806, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 358, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Henri Rousseau

Wikidata ID

Q20190029

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