Rousseau - The Dream

French painter, generally considered representative of naive painters. Those nostalgic for childhood, those seeking the marvelous and all those who wanted to sail far from the norms were carried away. They saw in this customs officer a ferryman, a man on the edge between reason and fantasy, between civilization and savagery.

For the work "The Dream" from 1910, one of the last painted by Rousseau, the artist even wrote a specific poem, entitled "Inscription for The Dream", in the margin of this painting, in order to explain its meaning.

“Yadwigha in a beautiful dream
Having fallen asleep gently
Heard the sounds of a bagpipe
Which was played by a well-meaning charmer.
While the moon reflects
On the rivers [or flowers], the green trees,
The wild snakes are listening
To the cheerful tunes of the instrument.

Initially criticized for their lack of realism and their naivety, his "jungles" would later be recognized as models by all, hence this phrase from Guillaume Apollinaire during the Salon d'Automne where Rousseau exhibited "Le Rêve", now preserved at the MoMA in New York: "This year, no one laughs, all are unanimous: they admire."

The Dream, 1910
MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York