The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Outskirts of Paris

Outskirts of Paris

c. 1897–1905
(French, 1844–1910)
France, late 19th Century-early 20th Century
oil on fabric
Framed: 56.5 x 65.5 x 8 cm (22 1/4 x 25 13/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 37.8 x 45.8 cm (14 7/8 x 18 1/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.951
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Rousseau once said to Picasso: "We are the two greatest artists of this era, you in the Egyptian style, I in the modern style."

Description

In addition to his large jungle scenes, Rousseau also painted small landscapes, including this view of a river or canal on the outskirts of Paris. While retaining a sharp, detailed rendering of objects, Rousseau has abandoned the flat tonality of his earlier works for more blended modeling and freer brushwork. The volumes of the clouds, trees, and houses occupy distinct areas in space, revealing the serenity of an organized world. A self-taught painter who, at the age of 41, quit his job in the Paris municipal toll or tax service to devote himself entirely to art, Rousseau was widely admired by avant-garde artists for his intuitive sense of design and inventive subjects.
  • Henri Rousseau
    1927
    M. Lefèbvre, Paris. His collection sale, Paris, Drouot, 3 March 1927 (lot 117, repr.), Paysage de banlieue, for ff 55,000, sold to Émile Level.
    1927-1929
    Émile Level, Paris, France, consigned to Valentine Gallery, New York, NY
    1929
    Valentine Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art on December 16, 1929.
    1929-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Basler, Adolphe. Henri Rousseau, Sa vie-son Oeuvre. New York, NY: Wehye, 1927. Reproduced: pl. 19
    "A Painting by 'Papa' Rousseau." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no.1 (January 1930): 8-10. Reproduced: p. 2; Mentioned: p. 8-9 www.jstor.org
    Wilenski, R. H. Modern French Painters. New York, NY: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1940. Reproduced: p. 362
    Rich, Daniel Catton. Henri Rousseau. New York,NY: The Museum of Modern Art, 1942. Reproduced: p. 35
    Grey, Roch. Henri Rousseu. Paris, France: Galerie René Drouin, Éditions "Tel", 1943. Reproduced: pl. 59
    Bouret, Jean. Henri Rousseau. London, United Kingdom: Oldbourne Press, 1961. Reproduced: p. 201, no. 112
    Vallier, Dora. L'opera completa di Rousseau il Doganiere. Milano, Italy: Rizzoli, 1969. Reproduced: p. 83
    Vallier, Dora. Tout l'œuvre peint de Henri Rousseau. Paris, France: Flammarion, 1970. Reproduced: p. 83
    Bihalji-Merin, Lise, and Oto Bihalji-Merin. Leben und Werk des Malers Henri Rousseau. Dresden, Germany: Verlag der Kunst, VEB, 1973. Reproduced: pl. 5
    Le Pichon, Yann, and Joachim Neugroschel. The world of Henri Rousseau. New York, NY: Viking Press, 1982.
    Vallier, Dora. Henri Rousseau. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1982.
    Certigny, Henry. Le Douanier Rousseau en son temps: biographie et catalogue raisonné. Tokyo, Japan: Bunkazai Kenkyujyo Co, 1984.
    Certigny, Henry. Le Douanier Rousseau en son temps: biographie et catalogue raisonné. Tokyo, Japan: Bunkazai Kenkyujyo Co, 1984. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 268-269
    Shattuck, Roger. Henri Rousseau: Essays. New York, NY: Museum of Modern Art, 1985.
    Richardson, John, and Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. New York, NY: Random House, 1990. Mentioned: p. 113, vol. 2
    D'Argencourt, Louise and Roger Diederen. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue of Paintings, Part Four; European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999. Reproduced: p. 195
  • Primitive Art and Folk Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 15-May 15, 1951).
    19th and 20th Century French Art and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Loans. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 22-September 1, 1943).
    Henri Rousseau. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Boston, Institute of Modern Art, Boston, MA; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA; Art Gallery of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; Modern Art Society, Cincinnati, OH; City Art Museum of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH. (1942-43), 35 (repr.)
    The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936).
    Catalogue of the Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition of the Cleveland Museum of Art (1936), no. 342, Environs de Paris.
    French Art since Eighteen Hundred (1929), in CMA Bulletin 16 (1929): 166 (repr.), 169.
    Paris, Société des Artistes Indépendants. 27ème Exposition (1911), probably no. 7, La Seine à Meudon (according to handwriting on stretcher the work was in this exhibition).
  • {{cite web|title=Outskirts of Paris|url=false|author=Henri Rousseau|year=c. 1897–1905|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.951