Henri Rousseau was a singular figure in the early-twentieth-century avant-garde, a self-taught painter who turned to art full-time after retiring as a toll collector at the age of forty-nine. Although he never left Paris, Rousseau painted many jungle scenes, drawing on images of the exotic as presented to the urban dweller through popular literature, colonial expositions, and the Paris zoo. The Dream (1910), one of the artist’s last works, is a surreal juxtaposition of the exotic and the domestic that typifies his uncanny exactitude. In this volume of the MoMA One on One series, curator Ann Temkin’s essay guides readers in deciphering this mysterious painting.
Each volume in the MoMA One on One series is a sustained meditation on a single work from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. This series is an invaluable guide for exploring and interpreting some of the most beloved artworks in the Museum’s collection.