MUSE

Henri Rousseau

The wonderful Henri Rousseau has been a muse and inspiration of mine since my childhood. My mum had a reproduction of ‘The Sleeping Gypsy 1897’ above her bed when I was small and I always loved it. It was magical, somewhat mystical and dreamlike, a lion, a sleeping woman, the moon and a starry night sky.  My young mind was always intrigued about what they were all doing together. 

‘Le Douanier Rousseau’ as Henri Rousseau was known by Paul Marsan aka ‘Dournac’, 1906.

ROUSSEAU, self taught and mainly ridiculed throughout his lifetime, is perhaps the most famous example of the Outsider art movement, artists that create art without any formal training; a movement that I have become interested in for it’s extreme individuality and inventiveness. 

His inspiration came directly from his own surroundings, children’s books, popular magazines, taxidermied animals in local shops and the parks of Paris. 

Below he explains his feelings when visiting the Botanical Gardens:

When I go to the glass houses and I see the strange plants of exotic lands, it seems to me that I enter into a dream.

You can feel his wonder at the tropical plants that must have seemed so strange and mystical to him and out of place at that time in Paris. 

Rousseau builds his paintings using layers of paint. For me, they often result in a slightly collaged appearance, containing fantastical and escapist images, subject matters that mix different locations and cultures. His style has a strong resonance with the way we approach our designing, layering, collaging and mixing. 

 We often reference Rousseau’s colours. He uses pure colours and soft unexpected tones, painting his imagined tropical plants, piece by piece in rich gradations of colour, all very exciting and inspiring, our large luxury scarf Josie is a lovely illustration of Rousseau’s influence.

- Heti Gervis