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'Surprised!'
by Henri Rousseau, 1891
This jungle scene was painted by the French artist, Henri Rousseau, in 1891, and
is signed in the bottom left corner. Rousseau is
now famous for his jungle scenes, although it is
thought that he never actually visited a jungle
– rather, he took his inspiration from trips
to the Jardin des Plantes, the botanical gardens
in Paris, and from prints and illustrated books.
Rousseau later described the painting as representing
a tiger pursuing explorers, but he may originally
have intended the 'surprise' to be the sudden tropical
storm breaking in the sky above the tiger. We can
see long streaks of lightening, and imagine the
rumble of thunder. Stripes govern the whole design,
in tones of green, yellow, orange, brown and red,
and the tiger is well camouflaged amongst the lush
foliage.
© The National Gallery, London |
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