Description
| Title: | Woman with Basket of Eggs |
| Other titles: | Woman with Basket of Eggs; La femme au panier d’œufs (the museum’s titles) |
| Painter: | Henri Rousseau |
| Year painted: | about 1889–1895 |
| Original size: | 35.1 cm x 27 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, ten sizes or a size made to order |
Woman with Basket of Eggs is a painting by Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, dated about 1889–1895 by the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. What you see: a young woman in a wide straw hat holding a wicker basket full of white eggs beneath a leafy tree. We paint it by hand in oils, in ten sizes or to measure, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
Woman with Basket of Eggs
What is on the canvas?
A young woman with long brown hair parted in the middle wears a wide straw hat with a pink band and a blue ribbon at her neck. She is dressed in a white blouse with puffed pink sleeves and a dark green bodice, with a reddish skirt showing at her side. With both hands she holds a wicker basket full of white eggs. Behind her spreads a great crown of dense green leaves, and at the right the view opens onto a green field and a village with a church spire and red roofs under a pale sky. The signature, H. Rousseau, is at the lower right. Another Rousseau portrait with trees behind the sitter is Portrait of a Woman in a Landscape.
What does the painting mean?
The painting is a simple country portrait: a young woman showing her basket of eggs under a tree, with a village in the background. Rousseau sets her squarely in front of us with a calm, serious gaze, and paints every leaf of the tree separately, like the pattern on a wallpaper. The museum dates it to about 1889–1895, Rousseau’s early years, when he was still teaching himself to paint. Its small format and warm, homely subject suit a kitchen or a dining room well. Another painting from the same collection in Philadelphia is View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk.
Which size suits which room?
The original is 35.1 cm high and 27 cm wide, a small upright format; 89 x 116 cm keeps its proportion most exactly, and 58 x 75 cm is close. Ten sizes are available: 55 x 70, 58 x 75, 63 x 79, 71 x 90, 74 x 96, 82 x 102, 85 x 110, 89 x 116, 95 x 128 and 107 x 135 cm. For a kitchen, a dining room or a narrow wall in a hallway we recommend 58 x 75 or 63 x 79 cm; in a living room, where the face should read at about life size, 85 x 110 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 portrait of a child by the same painter is The Child with the Doll.
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 and the landscape first, then the crown of the tree leaf by leaf, then the dress and the hat, and last the face, the hair and the basket of eggs. 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 portrait by the same painter is Portrait of the Father of the Artist. 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 1889–1895, 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 the countryside, a homely kitchen or simple portraits. If you would rather the recipient chose, there is a gift voucher.
- Subject: a young woman in a wide straw hat holds a wicker basket of white eggs under a tree; at the right a village with a spire.
- Original: oil on canvas, 35.1 x 27 cm, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia; about 1889–1895.
- Our version: hand-painted oil, ten sizes from 55 x 70 to 107 x 135 cm or to measure, unframed, photograph before dispatch.
- Of note: every leaf of the tree behind the woman is painted separately, like a pattern.
