Description
| Title: | View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk |
| Other titles: | View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk; Vue du parc Montsouris, le kiosque (the museum’s titles) |
| Painter: | Henri Rousseau |
| Year painted: | about 1908–1910 |
| Original size: | 66 cm x 80 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, eight sizes or a size made to order |
View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk is a painting by Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, dated about 1908–1910 by the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. What you see: a Paris park with a lake and a wooden kiosk among tall trees, and strollers in summer clothes and straw hats in the foreground. We paint it by hand in oils, in eight sizes or to measure, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk
What is on the canvas?
Beyond the dark green water of the lake stands a brown wooden kiosk with slender posts and a roof, ringed by tall, narrow poplars; behind it rises a tall grey house with chimneys, and at the right a group of very tall trunks. Strollers walk along the path at the bottom edge: at the left a little girl in white with a blue sash beside a lady in dark blue with a white hat, then a lady in a red dress with a parasol and a hat with a pink feather, holding hands with a gentleman in white and a straw hat, at the right a man in grey and a boy in pink, both with straw hats and canes, and at the far right a moustached gentleman in pale clothes. The signature, Henri Rousseau, is at the lower left. Another park with tiny strollers is The Avenue in the Park at Saint-Cloud.
What does the painting mean?
The Barnes Foundation writes that Montsouris was one of four parks opened in Paris in the 1870s, and that Rousseau painted its artificial lake. The museum points to the flatness of the scene: the figures in front seem to be walking across a stage, with the landscape behind them painted on a backdrop. It is this sense of shifted space, the museum says, that later generations of artists admired. Another Rousseau park in Paris is Jardin du Luxembourg.
Which size suits which room?
The original is 66 cm high and 80 cm wide; 85 x 70 cm keeps its proportion most exactly. Eight sizes are available: 70 x 58, 85 x 70, 100 x 80, 110 x 90, 120 x 100, 160 x 132, 180 x 148 and 200 x 160 cm. Because the strollers are small, we recommend 120 x 100 cm or larger for a living room; the smaller sizes suit a dining room or a study, where the painting is seen up close. 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 portrait-landscape by Rousseau from the same collection is The Past and the Present.
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 sky, the house and the trees first, then the lake and the kiosk, and paints the strollers last, each with its own outline. 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 family scene out of doors by the same painter is The Family. 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?
About 1908–1910, 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 Paris, parks and walks. If you would rather the recipient chose, there is a gift voucher.
- Subject: strollers in summer clothes by a lake with a wooden kiosk in the Parc Montsouris in Paris.
- Original: oil on canvas, 66 x 80 cm, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia; about 1908–1910.
- Our version: hand-painted oil, eight sizes from 70 x 58 to 200 x 160 cm or to measure, unframed, photograph before dispatch.
- Of note: according to the museum, Montsouris is one of four Paris parks opened in the 1870s.
