Henri Rousseau

French, 1844-1910

Flowers in a Vase

Henri Rousseau (French, 1844–1910). Flowers in a Vase, 1909. Oil on canvas, 17 7/8 x 12 7/8 inches (45.4 x 32.7 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939 (RCA1939:17).

Public Domain

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Public Domain

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Public Domain

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Flowers in a Vase, 1909

Artwork Details

Currently on View

Collection Highlight

Materials

oil on canvas

Measurements

support: 17 7/8 x 12 7/8 inches (45.4 x 32.7 cm); framed: 26 1/2 x 21 9/16 x 4 1/4 inches (67.31 x 54.77 x 10.77 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1939

Accession ID

RCA1939:17

For Henri Rousseau, the theme of the still life, especially flowers, offered a pleasant diversion from more ambitious, academic subjects. The strict front-facing view of his flower paintings and his employment of clear, solid-colored forms and restricted, flattened space are all characteristic of folk or "primitive" art. The flowers in this painting have been carefully rendered. All of the floral varieties in the bouquet are recognizable: peonies, tulips, daisies, mimosas, acacias, and forget-me-nots. The surface is smoothly and evenly brushed, but it is sometimes interrupted to allow the white preparatory ground to show through as an element of texture.

Label from For the Love of Things: Still Life, February 27–May 29, 2016