The Snake Charmer 1907

Henri Rousseau made this painting of a snake charmer, with oils, in 1907. Imagine Rousseau layering on the greens and blues, one after another. He must have lost himself in the act of painting this fantasy jungle. The paint is applied flatly, but the image shimmers with a kind of inner light. You see the dark figure of the snake charmer, almost silhouetted against the lush background, surrounded by these calm, yet watchful snakes. I wonder what he was thinking about when he painted the pink bird, so serene amidst all the greenery. It’s like he's creating his own world, one careful brushstroke at a time. Rousseau’s paintings were not always appreciated in his time, but now we see him as a kind of visionary, someone who reminds us that painting can be a doorway to another realm. It is as if he has plucked a scene right from the collective unconscious.