Outskirts of Paris (c. 1897–1905): Art, History and Details

Outskirts of Paris (c. 1897–1905) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Henri Rousseau (French, 1844–1910).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In addition to his large jungle scenes, Rousseau also painted small landscapes, including this view of a river or canal on the outskirts of Paris. While retaining a sharp, detailed rendering of objects, Rousseau has abandoned the flat tonality of his earlier works for more blended modeling and freer brushwork. The volumes of the clouds, trees, and houses occupy distinct areas in space, revealing the serenity of an organized world. A self-taught painter who, at the age of 41, quit his job in the Paris municipal toll or tax service to devote himself entirely to art, Rousseau was widely admired by avant-garde artists for his intuitive sense of design and inventive subjects.

Object facts

• Title: Outskirts of Paris
• Date: c. 1897–1905
• Creator attribution: Henri Rousseau (French, 1844–1910)
• Culture: France, late 19th Century-early 20th Century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on fabric
• Dimensions: Framed: 56.5 x 65.5 x 8 cm (22 1/4 x 25 13/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 37.8 x 45.8 cm (14 7/8 x 18 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1929.951

A detail from the museum

Rousseau once said to Picasso: "We are the two greatest artists of this era, you in the Egyptian style, I in the modern style."

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Basler, Adolphe. Henri Rousseau, Sa vie-son Oeuvre. New York, NY: Wehye, 1927.
• "A Painting by 'Papa' Rousseau." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 17, no.1 (January 1930): 8-10.
• Wilenski, R. H. Modern French Painters. New York, NY: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1940.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.