Updated: July 10, 2006
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART CREATES SPECIAL FILM IN HONOR OF “HENRI ROUSSEAU: JUNGLES IN PARIS” NARRATED BY AWARD-WINNING ACTOR KEVIN KLINE
For the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, 44 small buildings were constructed in the styles of various epochs and cultures at the base of the Eiffel Tower. The architect was the famous designer of the Paris Opera, Charles Garnier, assisted by Professor Amman from the department of history and geography at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. This photograph shows African and Lapland dwellings. Copyright ©1999 National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC –Henri Rousseau’s Parisian “jungles”—the parks, gardens, and greenhouses that fueled his imagination—are the subject of a new film that will accompany the exhibition Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris, on view at the East Building, National Gallery of Art, July 16 through October 15, 2006. Narrated by the award-winning actor Kevin Kline, the film will be shown in the Gallery’s auditorium and on public television stations. A short version of the film will be shown continuously in a theater inside the exhibition.
The film examines the career of the self-taught French artist Henri Rousseau (1844-1910), featuring present-day footage of the Parisian “jungles,” as well as interviews with exhibition curators and catalogue authors Christopher Green, Courtauld Institute of Art, London; Frances Morris, Tate Modern; Nancy Ireson, National Gallery, London; and Vincent Gille, Pavillion des Arts, Paris.
Rousseau, a late-blooming artist who started painting in his forties, ultimately won the acclaim of Pablo Picasso and other members of the Parisian avant-garde. Despite his ravishing depictions of jungle scenes, he never left France. His "jungles” were shaped by the way the exotic was represented in French popular culture, through visits to the zoos and botanical gardens of Paris as well as books, postcards, and magazines. The film examines the French obsession with far-off places and cultures in the late 19th century during the nation’s colonial expansion, and draws on rare archival photos, ephemera, and film from the period. Rousseau’s visual influence on other artists—from the surrealist painter Max Ernst to the popular imagery of the children’s book character Babar and the Fox Television program “The Simpsons”—is also charted.
A 35-minute minute DVD is available for $19.95 through the National Gallery of Art Shops. To order the DVD, call 1-(800)-697-9350 or (202) 842-6002; fax (202) 789-3047; or e-mail mailorder@nga.gov.
Support and Organization
The film is made possible by the HRH Foundation.
Major support for this exhibition was provided by the George Andreas Foundation.
The exhibition is sponsored in part by the National Automobile Dealers Association.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The exhibition was organized by Tate Modern, London, and Réunion des musées.
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