Description
| Title: | The Rabbit’s Meal |
| Other titles: | The Rabbit’s Meal; Le repas du lapin (the museum’s titles) |
| Painter: | Henri Rousseau |
| Year painted: | 1908 |
| Original size: | 50 cm x 61.2 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | naive art (primitivism) |
| Held at: | Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, USA |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on canvas, nine sizes or a size made to order |
The Rabbit’s Meal is a painting by Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, dated 1908 by the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. What you see: a grey rabbit nibbling carrots in front of a red brick wall, with a cabbage before it and the branch of a tree leaning over it. We paint it by hand in oils, in nine sizes or to measure, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
The Rabbit’s Meal
What is on the canvas?
In the middle crouches a grey rabbit with a white belly, white paws and upright ears; its paws rest on two orange carrots and it nibbles their green tops. At the left a pale green cabbage lies on the brown ground, and a low row of green plants runs behind the rabbit. The background is a red brick wall with every brick painted separately. At the right grows a dark trunk, and a branch of green leaves bends over the rabbit. The signature and year, H. Rousseau 1908, are at the lower right. Another animal by Rousseau is The Tiger Cat.
What does the painting mean?
The Rabbit’s Meal is a small, friendly scene from everyday life: a pet rabbit at lunch with its carrots and cabbage, as if the painter had watched it in the garden behind the house. Rousseau paints it with the same seriousness as his big jungle scenes, with sharply outlined leaves and the wall laid brick by brick. The Barnes Foundation notes that the painting was shown in 2025–2026 in the exhibition Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets at the Barnes and then at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. Another painting from the same collection in Philadelphia is Woman with Basket of Eggs.
Which size suits which room?
The original is 50 cm high and 61.2 cm wide; 110 x 90 cm keeps its proportion most exactly. Nine sizes are available: 70 x 55, 75 x 60, 85 x 69, 100 x 81, 110 x 90, 120 x 100, 160 x 130, 180 x 146 and 200 x 160 cm. The cheerful, homely subject suits a kitchen, a dining room or a child’s room, where 70 x 55 or 85 x 69 cm is enough; above a sofa in a living room 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 still life by the same painter is Flowers in a Vase.
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 brick wall first, brick by brick, then the tree with its branch and the plants along the wall, then the ground and the cabbage, and last the rabbit in all its greys and the carrots. 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 Paris park from the same collection is View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk. 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 Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.
When was it painted?
In 1908; Rousseau signed and dated it at the lower right.
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 children, animal lovers or a cheerful corner of the kitchen. If you would rather the recipient chose, there is a gift voucher.
- Subject: a grey rabbit with carrots and a cabbage in front of a red brick wall, under the branch of a tree.
- Original: oil on canvas, 50 x 61.2 cm, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia; 1908.
- 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: according to the museum, the painting was exhibited in Philadelphia and Paris in 2025–2026.
