Description
| Title: | Portrait of the Father of the Artist |
| Other titles: | Portrait du père de l’artiste; Retrato del padre del artista (the museum’s titles) |
| Painter: | Henri Rousseau |
| Year painted: | 1905 (as published; the museum’s page gives no year) |
| Original size: | 21.8 cm x 16 cm (height x width); with frame 46.3 x 41.1 cm |
| Original technique: | oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | naive art (primitivism) |
| Held at: | Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina (inv. 8555) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, ten sizes or a size made to order |
Portrait of the Father of the Artist is a painting by Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, catalogued by the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires as Portrait du père de l’artiste under inventory number 8555. The original is tiny: 21.8 cm high and 16 cm wide. What you see: the head and shoulders of an elderly bald man in profile, in a black coat and white collar, rising out of a bank of white cloud under a blue sky.
Portrait of the Father of the Artist
What is on the canvas?
The canvas is upright. The upper half is an even, light blue sky that grows paler towards the cloud. Across the lower half a great bank of white and grey cloud billows from edge to edge. Out of it rise the head and shoulders of an elderly man in strict profile, facing left: a high bald crown, dark grey hair brushed back over the ear, a strong straight nose, ruddy cheeks and a closed mouth. He wears a white shirt collar and a black coat. The cloud cuts the figure off at the chest, so that he seems to rest in it rather than stand behind it. There is nothing else: no ground, no room, no object. The signature, Henri Rousseau, is written in dark paint at the lower left, on the cloud.
Who is the man in the portrait?
The museum’s own text names him: Julien Rousseau, the painter’s father, who dealt in tinware and hardware in the small town where the painter was born, Laval, as the same page says. The museum adds that nothing in the portrait points to his trade: no tool, no shop, no sign of work. What the portrait does show, in the museum’s reading, is the son’s esteem for his father. The museum’s page gives no dates for his life, and neither do we. A portrait of the painter himself, similarly small, is Portrait of the Artist with a Lamp.
Why is he painted in profile against the sky?
The museum explains the choice. The profile is a kind of portrait with a long history, often associated with images of rulers and very influential people, and here it expresses respect. Rousseau raises his father further by setting him before a sky that seems to have no end. The museum places the painting among the works Rousseau called portrait-landscapes, a form he claimed to have invented, and notes that he used the same scheme elsewhere: portraits of a man and of a woman, finished around 1905, are built the same way. Another sky that carries a whole scene is View of the Bridge at Sèvres.
How large is the original, and what does that mean on a wall?
The original is 21.8 cm high and 16 cm wide, barely larger than a sheet of A5; with its frame the museum gives 46.3 x 41.1 cm. Ten sizes are available: 54 x 72, 57 x 79, 60 x 83, 70 x 92, 74 x 96, 77 x 107, 84 x 115, 90 x 120, 95 x 128 and 105 x 145 cm. Even the smallest is more than three times the height of the original, so every size turns a tiny picture into a portrait for a wall; the museum itself stresses that Rousseau’s portraits are tiny beside his large fantastic canvases. The proportion of the original is kept most closely by 54 x 72 and 90 x 120 cm. Custom sizes are ordered through the made-to-order painting page. Another small Rousseau portrait is Woman with Basket of Eggs.
How is a hand-painted reproduction made?
We paint your canvas painting by hand in oils after you order it, at the size you choose. From a high-resolution image of the original, the painter lays in the blue sky first, then the cloud in soft, broken strokes, and paints the face and the black coat last, keeping the outline of the profile sharp, as Rousseau did. A hand-painted canvas always differs slightly from the next, and that difference is exactly what a print cannot give you. It is stretched on a wooden frame, ready to hang. Another Rousseau portrait, a woman on a balcony, is Portrait of a Woman, and the whole collection is in the Henri Rousseau gallery.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original kept?
At the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, inventory number 8555. The museum gives its origin as Antonio Santamarina, 1975.
When was it painted?
The museum’s page gives no year. The published catalogue data (Wikidata) date it to 1905, and we give it that way, as published.
Did Rousseau paint other portraits like this?
Yes. The museum names two, a portrait of a man and one of a woman, finished around 1905 and built the same way.
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 a father, or for someone who likes quiet, personal portraits. If you would rather the recipient chose, there is a gift voucher.
- Subject: the painter’s father, Julien Rousseau, in profile, rising out of white cloud under a blue sky.
- Original: oil on canvas, 21.8 x 16 cm (height x width), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, inv. 8555; 1905, as published.
- Our version: hand-painted oil, ten sizes from 54 x 72 to 105 x 145 cm, or a size made to order.
- Of note: the museum counts it among Rousseau’s portrait-landscapes, a form the painter claimed to have invented.
