The Equatorial Jungle

1909

Henri Rousseau

Artist, French, 1844 - 1910

Two animals with golden yellow, brown, and black fur peer out from behind dense jungle foliage in this stylized, vertical painting. Most of the composition is filled with broadly painted areas of sage, olive, moss, and lemon-lime green to create an impenetrable wall of plants and growth. An oval of slate-blue sky to the left of upper center is framed by plants that grow up and off the top corners of the painting. Small in scale and nestled back among the growth near the lower center, the animal to our right has black eyes that look at or toward us, a long nose, and gray around its mouth and eyes. It has triangular ears and its body, which extends to our right, is dark brown with a lifted tail. To our left, another smaller animal, perhaps a baby, is mostly obscured by a fern frond and grass. This animal has small black eyes and chestnut-brown and black fur. Three large, stylized flowers with fuchsia-pink centers and pale petals grow above the animals, to our left. An oversized white hyacinth grows to our right. A narrow, brick-red bird sits on a branch above the pink flowers, almost lost among the plants. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner, “Henri Julien Rousseau 1909.”

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 140.6 x 129.5 cm (55 3/8 x 51 in.)
    framed: 151.8 x 141.3 x 6.9 cm (59 3/4 x 55 5/8 x 2 11/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.213

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

From the artist to Robert Delaunay, Paris. Possibly Paul Guillaume [d. 1934].[1] (Ambroise Vollard [1866-1939], Paris); sold 1925 to Mrs. Juliana Force, who returned it to Vollard that same year. (Galerie Étienne Bignou, Paris); sold 1928 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[2] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1]A photograph of this work is among those in an album of contre-types which belonged to Paul Guillaume. See letter dated 5 March 1998 from Pierre Georgel in NGA curatorial files. [2]Provenance according to Chester Dale papers in NGA curatorial records.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1928

  • Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, 1928, no. 35

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

2005

  • Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris, Tate Modern, London; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2005-2006, no. 29, repro. (shown only in Washington).

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1929

  • Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 68, repro.

1930

  • Read, H.A. "The Chester Dale Collection." Vogue 25 (15 February 1930): repro. 81.

1942

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 83, repro.

1944

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 83, repro.

1952

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 172, color repro.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 93, repro.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 154.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 280, repro.

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 81, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 117.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:478, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 104, repro.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 94-95, color repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 312, repro.

1978

  • King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 97, pl. 59.

1979

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 122, pl. 110.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 534, no. 805, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 358, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 239-240, 244, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Henri Julien Rousseau / 1909

Wikidata ID

Q19973313

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