A nice book, featuring several essays that provide a biography of Rousseau and the context for his work, lots of additional notes, and 66 color plates with analysis. His story is compelling, and there is such a haunting beauty to his best work, but there are aspects of the critical response to his art I agreed with as well, though not in the cruel, withering forms it took in his day. Rousseau was often awkward and childlike in his technique, even though he at least sometimes used a pantograph to help, and quite a bit of his work just doesn’t move me. If you’re a fan, though, this is the book for you.

My favorites:
A Carnival Evening (1886)
Rendezvous in the Forest (1889)
Walking in the Forest (1886)
The Sleeping Gypsy (1897) ( )

Wonderful paintings. ( )

great book. it gave me a better appreciation of rousseau. ( )