Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910)
Éclaireurs attaqués par un tigre (Scouts Attacked by a Tiger)
1904
Oil on canvas, 121.6 x 161.9 cm
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia
Self-taught artist Henri Rousseau created his enormous jungle scenes by studying the plants and taxidermy animals in Paris‘s natural history museums. Painted at the height of the colonial period, such works were popular with Parisian audiences for their theatrical presentation of France‘s faraway territories as exotic and violent. (BF)