Le Rêve (The Dream)

Henri Rousseau

Oil on canvas

Museum of Modern Art

Le Rêve (The Dream) is a monumental oil on canvas depicting Yadwigha, Rousseau's Polish muse from his youth, lying naked on a velvet divan amid an impossibly lush jungle teeming with lions, an elephant, monkeys, luminous lotus flowers, and a mysterious snake charmer — a dreamlike collision of the domestic and the exotic rendered in over 20 shades of green. The painting embodies the signature flat, almost childlike perspective of Naïve Art, yet achieves a hauntingly beautiful tonal harmony that drew admiration even from critics who had previously dismissed the artist. Henri Rousseau — known as "Le Douanier" for his career as a Parisian customs officer — was entirely self-taught, only taking up painting seriously in his forties before retiring at 49 to pursue art full-time, going on to captivate avant-garde luminaries such as Picasso and Kandinsky despite years of ridicule. As his final completed masterpiece and one of the largest of his more than 25 jungle paintings, The Dream stands as a triumphant capstone to a singular career and hangs today at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where it remains one of the most beloved works in the collection.