The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope

Henri Rousseau

Oil on canvas

Kunstmuseum Basel

The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope (Le lion ayant faim se jette sur l'antilope) depicts a dramatic jungle scene bathed in the deep red glow of a setting sun, in which a lion bites into the neck of a fallen antelope in the foreground, while a panther, an owl, birds of prey, and an indistinct ape-like figure lurk within the dense, layered foliage. Painted in 1905 by self-taught French artist Henri Rousseau—known as Le Douanier—the work exemplifies his Naïve style: meticulous construction of lush jungle flora using numerous shades of green, a characteristically flat perspective, and a dreamlike intensity that defies academic convention. Rousseau, who never traveled outside France, drew inspiration for the central animals from a taxidermy diorama at the Paris Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, and for the vegetation from the botanical gardens and illustrated publications available to him in Paris. Exhibited at the landmark 1905 Salon d'Automne alongside works by Matisse and Derain, the painting has been credited with helping to inspire the very term 'Fauvism,' coined by critic Louis Vauxcelles in reference to that same exhibition room of wild and untamed imagery.