Rousseau-Surprised! Flashcards

Question

colour

Answer 1

-Patterning and rich colour dominate. -A symphony of stripes composed of innumerable green hues, with the vivid punctuations of its complementary red found in the tiger’s gums and the various exotic plants.

Answer 2

-Hypnotic interweaving of verticals and diagonals. -Diagonal of the tiger echoed in one of the thick branches of the tree above it.

Answer 3

*This sense of forward motion of the tiger further enhanced by the branches and the leaves blowing in the wind. -through rapid verticals of rain This painting differs from Rousseau’s other jungle paintings in its feeling of movement. *Sense of immediacy and movement enhanced by the cropped composition.

Answer 4

*A dark and ominous stormy sky.

Answer 5

*The tiger is illuminated. *The flash of lightening creates a sense of drama.

Answer 6

*Sense of compressed space; all action pushed to the foreground

Answer 7

*It was claimed, either by the artist or by friends of his, that Rousseau had experienced life in the jungle during time in Mexico in 1860 where he had served as a regimental bandsman. *In fact, he had never left France, and it is thought instead that his inspiration came from the botanical gardens of Paris, such as the Jardin des Plantes (which included zoological galleries with taxidermy specimens of exotic animals), caged wild animals in the Paris zoo, oversized domestic plants and trees, and from prints and books. *The end of the century French populace was captivated by exotic and dangerous subjects, such as the perceived savagery of peoples and animals of distant lands

Answer 8

*his inspiration came from the botanical gardens of Paris, such as the Jardin des Plantes (which included zoological galleries with taxidermy specimens of exotic animals), caged wild animals in the Paris zoo, oversized domestic plants and trees, and from prints and books.

Answer 9

According to Apollinaire, Rousseau felt the imaginative reality of the scenes he was painting so intensely that he had to throw open the window to escape from their self-induced spells.

Answer 10

*The end of the century French populace was captivated by exotic and dangerous subjects, such as the perceived savagery of peoples and animals of distant lands ‘Tigers on the prowl’ had also been the subject of an exhibition at the 1885 École des Beaux-Arts. *An important event in his life at this time was the Universal Exposition (World Fair) held in Paris in 1889; it is probable that the reconstructions of native life in French colonies (Senegalese, Tonkinese, and Tahitian landscape)s at the exposition provided further inspiration for the exoticism of his later paintings.

Answer 11

*The tiger is derived from a motif found in the drawings and paintings of Delacroix. See in particular, ‘Tiger and Snake’ (1862).

Answer 12

‘Tigers on the prowl’ had also been the subject of an exhibition at the 1885 École des Beaux-Arts.

Answer 13

‘Tigers on the prowl’ had also been the subject of an exhibition at the 1885 École des Beaux-Arts.

Answer 14

*Commentators have linked the finely worked surface pattern with Medieval tapestries, such as ‘The Lady with the Unicorn’, which Rousseau would have seen.

Answer 15

*Despite their apparent simplicity, Rousseau’s jungle paintings were built up meticulously in layers, using a large number of green shades to capture the lush exuberance of the jungle. *He rendered each leaf separately yet with an eye toward overall design; each branch of leaves constitutes an almost abstract pattern. *He devised his own method for depicting the lashing rain by trailing strands of silver paint diagonally across the canvas, a technique inspired by the satin-like finishes of the paintings of William-Adolphe Bouguereau. *A subtle white and grey glazing over the entire surface of the painting depicts the intense downpour in the jungle. *It has been suggested that Rousseau used a pantograph.

Answer 16

*He devised his own method for depicting the lashing rain by trailing strands of silver paint diagonally across the canvas, a technique inspired by the satin-like finishes of the paintings of William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Answer 17

*Not only was Rousseau unaware of his lack of conventional technical skill, but he believed that his work resembled that of the academic painters. *Unable to have a painting accepted by the jury of the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture, Rousseau exhibited Tiger in a Tropical Storm in 1891 under the title Surpris!, at the Salon des Indépendants, which was unjuried and open to all artists.

Answer 18

*In 1905 Rousseau was invited to the Salon d’Automne (a semiofficial exhibition created after a schism among the academicians), where his painting The Hungry Lion (1905) was hung in the same room as the works of the group of avant-garde painters known as the Fauves (“Wild Beasts”)