Henri Rousseau, the Dounier, as many people called him lived in a world of his own. It was a world filled with ghosts and goblins, eternal Sunday paintings, and simple worries. This world, I believe, I also share with Henri Rousseau. We are alike in many aspects of personality, talent, and friends. Not many people remind me of myself, but Rousseau is the only person to have done this. We are different in some aspects of our talents, because his lies in the arts while mine lie in sports. Our personalities are also alike in that we both exude a degree of innocence that many people like to test and take advantage of. Also, the way my career is developing and the way his did are along the same path.

The Dounier was misunderstood in this familiar phrase. It was only due to Apollinaire that he was called this because he should have been called the gabelou. He should have received this name because of his employment in the Paris Municipal Toll Service. Like Rousseau, I have many nicknames, some of which drive me absolutely insane. I’m glad that he didn’t have to endure the nicknames of Bob, Care-bear, or Fairy. While I realize that mine are in jest I can not help but wonder if Rousseau truly appreciated the title of duonier. Was it something thrust upon his mantle with no hope of removing, or did he gladly accept it? Only he knows that. He continued with this job for fifteen years while being married to Clemence. They had nine children, but only two of them survived. When Clemence died, Rousseau gave the children into the care of their aunt and uncle. He was free then to become the person that he truly wanted to be. He was no longer bound to family ties, financial accountability, or to his old world. He became the bachelor painter.

Rousseau’s background is not as intriguing as his personality though. He was a person who “believed in ghosts and spirits,” and “encountered them during his long watches in remoter places”(BY 48). Many of the other gabelous would mock him for this, and they even went so far as to set up a fake ghost. He surprised them all when “he [doffed] his hat and [asked] if it would like to have a drink” (BY 48). It this aspect of Rousseau that ties me to him so much. Another example of this incredible personality is when his friends told him that he was invited to dinner with the President of the Republic. So he went with good cheer, but since it was a joke he was denied. The reply that he came back with was that he couldn’t get in without an invitation. When he insisted, “the president himself came out and patted him on the back and said, “Sorry Rousseau, but you see you’re wearing an ordinary suit. Since everybody else is in formal dress, I can’t very well receive you today. But come again some other time” (BY 59). The innocence and charm in the way Rousseau received these jokes is the way that I also take them. I know when they are taking place, but I am able to smile, take it in stride, and continue on with my integrity intact. I had the extreme pleasure of watching a movie at my friend’s house, when two of them said they were going to get food. Twenty minutes later they came back and asked if I could drive because their car wouldn’t start. I walked outside and my car was completely enshrouded in toilet paper. So, all I said was, “I always wanted to have my car wrapped one day, because it would make such a great present for me.” My feathers were not ruffled by the incident, and they were still ready to fly.

Rousseau’s feathers were never ruffled with his amazing talent in painting. They were the subject of frequent ridicules, and intense scrutiny of ability. The first two paintings he exhibited were “slashed with knives by spectators, removed from the show, and put with the refuses”(BY 49). Critics would rip him apart by saying “Monsieur Rousseau paints with his feet with his eyes closed” or by calling him a “pre-primitive” (BY 52& 53). Rousseau persevered through all of this torment by the press, gallery, and even some fellow painters. Many times I have felt this negative judgement from both teachers and friends. I have been criticized in the way I work, act, or write. What they say is that my mind is not there, or it does not fit what the teacher has asked for. However, my mind was always on task, but I felt the need to do something different than the rest of the class. Probably my biggest example of this was my semester English paper last year. I had to compare Beowulf, the Arthurian legends, and Hamlet. While everyone wrote a serious paper, I wrote a paper about nothing. This paper wasn’t allowed at first because my teacher didn’t think I would be able to accomplish the thesis. Many of my friends thought it was ludicrous, but I was able to string Hamlet, Beowulf, and the Arthurian legends into a paper that dealt with make believe planets, kicking games, and the secret of life. By weaving a story intertwined with the concepts of my thesis, I was able to go anywhere I wanted. There were no limits, and because of my perseverance I was able to reach my goal.

Rousseau’s goal of painting was secured by the Societies des Artistes Independents. He found a place that welcomed his paintings, and his career began to unfold. There he averaged around five hangings a year after 1887. Soon Alfred Jarry began to recognize the talent that the paintings held, and he was even commissioned by Jarry and Gourmont to do a lithograph for their magazine L’Ymagier. In 1905 his success found a foothold at the Salon de Automne where his work, Le lion ayant faim, appeared next to that of Cezanne, Matisse, and Derain. The epitome of his career though and grandiose night of his life was the banquet Rousseau. Gathered at that legendary banquet were all of the great and influential artists of the time. Picasso, Andre Salmon, Maurice de Vlaminck, Jacques Vaillant, Apollinaire, Max Jacob and many more all gathered to celebrate the artist and their friend Henri Rousseau. This is his defining moment because after a struggle of “more than two decades for recognition and fellowship with other artists,” the banquet was “filled with artists and writers who had come to honor him” (BY 68). The banquet Rousseau was the full realization of his talent as a painter and as a man. Every person there appreciated his style and the personality that brought it about. The banquet Rousseau received is the ideal celebration I would like to have near the end of my career. He is lucky to have all of these friends, who love him for his personality, paintings, and humor. I would count myself lucky to receive this, and I believe that this banquet meant more to Rousseau than many things in his life.

There is an aspect in which Rousseau and I differ greatly. The idea is not that different, but the specialization is extremely. Rousseau specializes in the arts, especially painting. I specialize in playing sports with my complete emphasis on tennis. Rousseau’s main characteristics in painting were color and lighting. With color he used it as the principal means of ordering his compositions. He used it in changing intensities like with his background and skies, and he never hesitated to use pure black in his pictures as well. Many of the impressionist artists shied away from pure black’s usage. The “Snake Charmer” is a prime example of his usage of pure black. The mysterious figure is completely dark with the exception of the snake draped around his shoulders and the flute he is playing. His eyes are the only part of the body we can make out. We don’t know who he is or what sex as well. The ground around him is covered with snakes but they blend in with the darker background of the trees, leaves, and other embankment. This is offset by the pink flamingo and foliage in the foreground, along with the lighter colors of the river and sky. Color helped to preserve a sensuous and expressive property in his paintings. His lighting made a difference in many of his compositions as well. This is so because all of his paintings held a timeless quality to them, like that of an eternal Sunday afternoon. He only had three light settings for his pictures, and they consisted of high noon, moonlight, and that of the flood light in a photographer’s studio. All movement is stilled in his paintings. The one exception is La bohemienne endormie in which the lion’s tail is violently shaking. This causes us to question whether the lion is going to kill him or pass him by. In a similar theme, “the Jungle,” a tiger is shown attacking a buffalo. The background of trees and tropical flowers demands our attention though, and there are also three fruits lying on the ground. This combination of serenity and violence negates motion, and so the painting exudes a balanced feeling between life and death.

Rousseau is very talented in his paintings, but I think I am talented in sports as well. Like Rousseau I can play many of them, just like he could do other things in the arts. Tennis to me is like his painting. I view it as a game where you make your own rules and the ball bends itself to what you choose. The better you become, the more the ball will listen to you. I play it because I love to do it, and it is like his Sunday painting style to me. This is so because I have not ever had the chance to solely concentrate on tennis before. In high school, I played a variety of sports, but I only played tennis my freshman year. The rest of the high school I played baseball and I wasn’t able to play tennis because they were at the same time. So, I played tennis with my dad on my “Sundays,” which were the days that I had a break from everything. Just like Rouesseau, I am now separating from my old world, and establishing my new one of tennis and college.

Two personalities with many similar aspects are what relate Rousseau and I together. We have the same innocent nature that some people often take advantage of but still remains intact after everything is done. His career developed after all his ties were severed, and he was able to start anew. That is the way my career is going except I still keep in touch with my family. Both of us are able to do exceedingly well in what we put are minds to. This is evidenced not only through tennis and painting, but also through Rousseau’s musical ability and my own skiing ability. Our friends is the final aspect that unites us. For in them we are able to find our secret to life, and derive all of our enjoyment. Rousseau was a very talented individually. I feel honored that I am so similar to him in the fact that he can persevere, find humor in most things, and enjoy whatever he is doing. Rousseau is the everlasting Sunday painter that all of us want to be but never have the courage to do. In this he is a truly great person.

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