Recollections of Henri Rousseau
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Recollections of Henri Rousseau Details
Henri Rousseau was the first naïve artist in the history of Western art to be recognized for his true worth. His paintings have now entered popular consciousness to such an extent that it is difficult to imagine how strongly they were resisted at the time. Much of the credit for his transformation is due to the author of these Recollections, dealer and art historian Wilhelm Uhde. It was Uhde who mounted the first exhibition of Rousseau’s work, and the catalog he wrote for the occasion is the basis of the Recollections. In it, he painted a picture of a man of naiveté, humor, and total commitment to an art of whose importance he was utterly convinced.
Reviews
Since Uhde actually knew Rousseau, or at least people who knew him well, Uhde gives us an insider's look at the artist, and also Uhde's own recollections of owning Rousseau's paintings, until forced to flee France during WW1, and sadly abandoning the works. The book is short, and doesn't have that much biography of Rousseau, but captures the atmosphere of Uhde's collection of unknown and outsider artists.