Description
| Title: | Banana Harvest |
| Other titles: | Banana Harvest; La Récolte des bananes (the museum’s titles) |
| Painter: | Henri Rousseau |
| Year painted: | 1910 |
| Original size: | 36.8 cm x 45.1 cm (height x width, as published) |
| Original technique: | oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | naive art (primitivism) |
| Held at: | Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, USA |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, nine sizes or a size made to order |
Banana Harvest is a painting by Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, dated 1910 by the Yale University Art Gallery. What you see: two dark-skinned men carrying poles laden with bunches of bananas on their shoulders past a thatched hut, with a dense forest of banana plants rising behind them. We paint it by hand in oils, in nine sizes or to measure, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
Banana Harvest
What is on the canvas?
Two dark-skinned men stand in a pale, sandy clearing: the one at the left, in a yellow-green loincloth, carries over his shoulder a pole hung with bunches of bananas; the one at the right, in red, one hand on his hip, carries a pole with even more bunches, and both have bananas on their heads as well. Three harvested bunches lie on the ground before them. At the right stands a hut with a low thatched roof, and behind it tall banana plants with long leaves and small yellow fruit rise in several layers, with a pale sky opening here and there between them. The signature is at the lower right. Another Rousseau jungle is Tropical Forest with Monkeys.
What does the painting mean?
Instead of the wild animals of Rousseau’s great jungles, this is a picture of work: the banana harvest, carried away by the two men. The museum dates the painting to 1910, the last year of Rousseau’s life. The scene is calm and almost monochrome, all in greens and pale yellows, so on a wall it feels fresh and soothing. Another Rousseau jungle scene is The Equatorial Jungle.
Which size suits which room?
The published size of the original is 36.8 cm high and 45.1 cm wide, a small painting; 110 x 90 and 160 x 131 cm keep its proportion most exactly. Nine sizes are available: 70 x 55, 70 x 60, 85 x 69, 100 x 80, 110 x 90, 120 x 100, 160 x 131, 180 x 150 and 200 x 160 cm. The fresh green scene suits a kitchen, a dining room or a living room; 70 x 55 or 85 x 69 cm is enough for a smaller wall, and above a sofa we recommend 110 x 90 cm or larger. Above a sofa the painting usually takes about two thirds of the width of the furniture; above a bed it should stay narrower than the headboard. Custom sizes are ordered through the made-to-order painting page, where you enter the width and height; we suggest keeping the proportion of the original and changing only the scale. A waterfall in the jungle by the same painter is The Waterfall.
How is the painting made, and does it come framed?
Your canvas is begun only after you order it, and is painted by hand in oils in our workshop in Slovenia, at the size you choose. The painter lays in the layers of banana plants from back to front first, then the hut and the clearing, then the bunches on the ground, and last the two men with their poles and fruit. We do not print, and no machine application is used, so no two versions are exactly alike. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame and arrives ready to hang; a picture frame is not included in the price and is chosen separately. Before packing we photograph the finished painting and send you the photograph for approval; only then does it travel. A fight in the jungle by the same painter is Fight between a Tiger and a Buffalo. The whole collection is in the Henri Rousseau gallery.
How is it delivered, and what do we guarantee?
We deliver to Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Germany. Depending on its size, the canvas travels rolled in a rigid tube or stretched on its frame, always in protective wrapping and as a tracked parcel. The making time depends on the size and is confirmed when you order. We guarantee that every painting is painted by hand and that you see a photograph of the finished work before dispatch; if anything in it is not as you wish, we correct it before it leaves the workshop.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original kept?
At the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, USA.
When was it painted?
In 1910, the dating the museum gives.
Is a frame included?
No. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame and ready to hang without a picture frame; a frame can be chosen separately.
Is this a print?
No. It is painted by hand in oils, and the layers of paint can be seen and felt.
Is the painting suitable as a gift?
Yes, especially for someone who loves greenery, tropical subjects and calm scenes. If you would rather the recipient chose, there is a gift voucher.
- Subject: two men carry poles of banana bunches past a thatched hut; a dense banana forest behind them.
- Original: oil on canvas, 36.8 x 45.1 cm (as published), Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; 1910.
- Our version: hand-painted oil, nine sizes from 70 x 55 to 200 x 160 cm or to measure, unframed, photograph before dispatch.
- Of note: the museum dates the painting to 1910, the last year of Rousseau’s life.
