Mauvaise surprise (1901)

Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910)

Mauvaise surprise (Unpleasant Surprise)
1901
Oil on canvas, 194.6 x 129.9 cm
Barnes FoundationPhiladelphia

The large-scale jungle scenes of Henri Rousseau are rife with violent struggles between wild animals such as lions, tigers, and horses. Here, a hunter rescues a nude bather from a sharp-clawed bear. The figure stands in a gesture of calm surrender, revealing dirty palms, while the man fires his gun at the beast. Rousseau‘s painting reads at first like a classic “damsel in distress.” And yet the closer one looks, the stranger the picture becomes, and the harder the narrative is to decipher. (BF)