The son of a provincial tinman, Russo served in the 1871-1893 years in the tax office in Paris, because of what was later nicknamed "The officer". He began to draw and paint, apparently, about 1880, when he was already quite mature man. Educated, are not familiar with any art competence nor the history of art, he probably would have remained forever in obscurity, if not created in 1884 by the Society of Independent Artists, which waived the jury and opened the doors to its show to the public. Above pictures of Rousseau, appearing in showrooms independent, laughed, laughed till you drop, wondering at the arrogance of the simpleton, who has decided to compete with well-trained professionals.

Rousseau himself did not seem to notice in his paintings of deviations from the academic norm. He admired Bouguereau and Jerome, the then idols official Salon, and sincerely believing that continues this tradition, called himself a "national treasure of France." He was right, even though the story he ordered another, and perhaps a more important role than the one on which he aspired.
By that time in European art has been a trend of primitivism - focus on folk art, on the canonical form of primitive civilizations. People in the literary and artistic environment teased simplicity "customs", played the farce of its official recognition, but they stood out jokes and genuine interest in free self-taught school regulations, reshivshemusya to start from scratch with a clean slate.
Art Rousseau, in fact, deserves the closest attention. It is distinguished by unusual "primitive" forms of energy, her strong-willed, confident organization. Apparently, the avant-garde artists captivated and unintended semantic shifts, the differences visible and implicit. After all, trying to reproduce the genres and forms of academic art, Rousseau unwittingly created a parody of them.

His muse, inspiring the poet "(1909, Moscow, State Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin) on a plan - an allegorical portrait of Apollinaire and his mistress Marie Laurence. They are represented in certain groves of paradise, the poet - with its traditional attributes: a scroll and a quill pen, Muza - in the "antique" robes and crowned with a blessing gesture, a raised hand. In the intention to give a special significance Muse artist greatly increased the volume of her figure, but the "heavenly inspiration" made like the plump of the common people. Poses of these stocky figure volatile and uncertain gestures, as if they are not forced upon the inherent role. Diligent imitator salon art, Rousseau describes the rhetorical turns "high style" language of street vernacular, and his tongue-tie gives some kind of truth about the dilapidated allegorical genre.

Repertoire Rousseau was very diverse. He painted portraits, family celebrations and official ceremonies, of Paris and its suburbs, still lifes, landscapes with figures, military parades and battles. But his favorite subject became exotic landscapes - dense tropical forest with walking on them by predators and the Aborigines. In this regard, born rumors that in his youth Rousseau participated in the Mexican expedition of the French army. But, apparently, he never left the borders of France and in his pictures just passed all the familiar children's dreams of overseas countries.
Rousseau's amazing ability to fill the space vegetable weave, leaving somewhere in the depths of some cavity refuge for hiding animals. His tigers and jaguars with burning eyes, fabulous Ptah, cunning monkeys, reptiles, cunning, dark-skinned snake charmers do not differ at once, and sometimes barely visible over the huge thick curtains of leaves and stems. As if the artist was trained in wildlife watching its tricks - hiding in bunkers, lurking in the dark, sly peep, to scare the sudden appearance.

As to the paintings "The Dream" (1910, New York, Museum of Modern Art) Rousseau fiddling mocking question: how beautiful on the red settee was among the jungle? He replied that he brought a sleeping surrounded by their dreams. In fact, we see something else - a woman if she had just woke up and sat up in surprise stares at fantastic thickets. Tigers, shaken by her sudden appearance, round-eyed stare, frightened leaning on his hind legs, and curious firebird started, scoring colorful wings. Hiding in the shadow of dark-skinned inhabitant of the tropics is playing a pipe, or begging creep away the snake, then I suddenly found myself performing a serenade is beautiful.
In flowery landscape "primitive" art broke motif, borrowed from the repertoire of the official Salons - naked on the bed, and artistic intuition Rousseau responded to the surprise of the meeting subject commotion in the virgin forest. "The picture radiates beauty, it is undeniable - wrote Apollinaire. - Ask the artists, they are unanimous in their admiration. " Presumably, this admiration mingled with envy, and shred. After all, while on a combination of disparate artistic programs could venture only a naive self-taught.
Masters of the avant-garde, amused over the "customs officials, were surprised by his unusual moves and unconsciously learned, getting lessons unblinkered and therefore capable of opening the original perception. Example Rousseau has stimulated interest in the element of amateur art, which now has fuel for primitivism in professional art.