Henri Rousseau – The Tiger Cat

The Tiger Cat – Henri Rousseau

The Tiger Cat is a small cat subject, found less often in this painter’s work than the large jungle scenes. The animal stands low among the plants and looks straight out of the canvas. Here it is made as a hand-painted reproduction in oil, on canvas, in eight sizes from 40 x 60 cm to 150 x 210 cm or to your own measurement. Before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished canvas for approval.

What we deliberately do not state here: this canvas is not held by any public collection that has catalogued it, so there is no published object record, no measured dimensions and no inventory number. That is why you will not find a year of execution, a collection name or an accession number on this page. We say what can be checked against an institution, and nothing else.

What is on the canvas?

The scene is simple and close. A striped cat stands low among grass and leaves, its body turned aside and its head straight towards the viewer. The plants surround it on every side and do not recede: the leaves behind are painted as sharply as those in front, so the scene has no depth but reads as a dense surface with the animal set into it. The eyes are large and calm, without the tension of an attack. That calm is what separates this subject from the large scenes with beasts, where something is happening. The colour differs too: instead of the broad green areas of the large canvases there are many small tones meeting along hard outlines, and it is those outlines that keep the animal separate from its background even though the background is right against it.

Why do we know so little about this work?

Because there is no publicly available museum record of it. The work is not in a public collection that has catalogued it, so there is no published object record, no measured dimensions and no inventory number, and no institution confirms the attribution to the painter. We do not hide that and we do not fill it with guesses: we would rather say what we do not know than quote a year or a collection we cannot check. For a buyer that means two things in practice. First, the size of the original is no guide to choosing a size here, because nobody has published it; you have only your own wall to go on. Second, you will not find an inventory number or a museum name on this page, because both would look like evidence that does not exist. If you want a work with a reliable record, look at Tiger in a Tropical Storm, which the London gallery holds.

How does this cat fit with his other animals?

The painter’s beasts are almost always part of an event: attacking, stalking, or flinching before a storm. There is none of that here. The animal simply stands and looks, and the plants come from the same vocabulary as the large canvases — layers of leaves, hard outlines, no aerial perspective. So this subject reads like a detail taken from a larger forest and reduced to a single animal. That forest at full extent is The Equatorial Jungle.

What does the painting mean?

Because there is no event, the scene does not narrate. What remains is an encounter: the animal looks at you and you look at it, with neither danger nor story between. Some viewers read that as calm, others as unease, because the animal gives no sign of what it intends. Both can be argued, and the painting takes no side. A related scene with more animals and the same restraint is The Merry Jesters.

What does naive art mean in this work?

Naive art is the name for painting by self-taught artists who trained in no academic studio and kept to none of its rules on perspective, shading and anatomy. In this subject it shows in the flat colour, in outline instead of modelling, and in plants that have no depth. The animal is not painted as a study from life but as a sign of an animal, assembled from observation and invention. The label naive art therefore does not mean ignorance, but a style recognisable at first glance. There is more on the painter’s path in our article about the painter.

How is your canvas made here?

Your canvas is begun only after your order, in our workshop in Slovenia. The oil is built up in layers, from the plants towards the animal, so the stripes of the coat and the eyes arrive last. In the first photograph on this page the finished canvas stands unframed on the easel against a white wall, exactly as it leaves the workshop; the picture is of our own version, not of the original. We do not print, and we use no mechanical application; a hand-painted canvas differs from a print by touch alone, because the body of the paint is visible and can be felt. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame, ready to hang. The full range by this painter is in the Henri Rousseau gallery.

Which size for which wall?

Eight sizes: 40 x 60, 50 x 70, 60 x 80, 70 x 100, 80 x 110, 90 x 130, 120 x 170 and 150 x 210 cm. Being an upright canvas with a single animal, it works on a narrow wall, between a door and a corner, or in a row with other smaller pictures. For a living room the usual choice is 80 x 110 cm or larger. Below 50 x 70 cm the stripes of the coat and the leaves begin to merge, and what rewards close looking is lost. Since we do not know the size of the original, choose by the room rather than by the source: with this subject what matters is how close the viewer will stand, because the animal looks straight at them.

Custom size, stretcher and frame

Custom sizes go through the painting made by order page, where you enter width and height. Proportions matter here: the animal occupies the middle of the canvas, and widening the scene greatly creates plants around it that the source does not have. For non-standard measurements we suggest keeping the ratio and changing only the scale. The canvas is always stretched on a wooden frame. A frame is not included in the price and is chosen separately; in the photograph the canvas is unframed, exactly as it leaves the workshop.

Delivery and guarantee

We deliver to Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Hungary and Germany. The canvas travels rolled in a hard tube or stretched on its frame, depending on the size, always in protective wrapping. We guarantee that every work is painted by hand and that you will see a photograph of the finished piece before dispatch; if something there is not as you wish, we correct it before the work leaves the workshop. The smaller sizes of this subject are a frequent choice for a workspace corner and as a gift.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the original?

We cannot confirm that. The work is not in a public collection that has catalogued it, so there is no published record for us to quote.

Why is no year given?

Because no institution confirms one. A year written here would look reliable without being checkable.

Is the work certainly by him?

No institution confirms the attribution. We list the subject under his name because that is how it is established, and we say so plainly.

What does the photograph on this page show?

Our own version, not the original: the finished canvas unframed on the easel against a white wall.

Is this a print?

No. Every canvas is painted by hand in oils, to order. The body of the paint is visible and can be felt, which a print cannot imitate.

Which size should I choose?

For a living room 80 x 110 cm or larger, for a narrow wall 60 x 80 cm. The upright format asks for height, not width.

Can I have a size that is not on the list?

Yes, a made-to-order size carries no surcharge for a non-standard format. We recommend keeping the proportions.

How is the painting delivered?

Rolled in a tube or stretched on its frame, with tracked shipping. Production time depends on size and is confirmed when you order.

What does the painting say in one sentence?

That an animal which merely stands and looks holds the eye longer than a scene in which something is happening.

Is the original for sale?

We have no information on that. We give no value for the work, having no source for one.

Is it suitable as a gift?

A cat subject is a rewarding choice for a gift. If you would rather leave the choice to the recipient, there is a gift voucher.

• Subject: a striped cat among plants, turned straight towards the viewer
• Technique: oil on canvas, hand-painted
• Sizes: eight sizes from 40 x 60 to 150 x 210 cm or made to measure
• What we say plainly: a work from a private collection with an unverified attribution and no public museum record