About this work
Rousseau painted himself as a giant, dwarfing tiny passersby on a quay of the Seine.
Adopting the style of an official portrait, he depicts himself full-length in a stiff pose, wearing a black suit enlivened by a medal in his buttonhole, his beret pulled firmly down on his head.
Brush and palette in hand, he stands before a landscape featuring the Eiffel Tower and a tall ship decorated with world flags.
His two wives' first names — Clémence and Joséphine — are inscribed on the palette, and the idealised urban background includes the now-lost metallic Pont du Carrousel, the shadow of a hot-air balloon, and the newly built Eiffel Tower. The palette of the picture is sober but charged: deep blacks and greys anchor the monumental figure, while the riverscape behind glows with the cool blue light of a Parisian afternoon.
Painted at the start of his career and exhibited at the 1890 Salon des Indépendants, Rousseau chose its title to claim a neutral status between the usually totally distinct genres of portrait painting and landscape painting.
In 1889, Rousseau had attended the Paris World's Fair, and that spirit of spectacle was incorporated directly into the background of this painting.
The work depicts the then-new way of the artist's perception and reflects the artistic confidence of the painter.
Although he completed the portrait in 1890, Rousseau subsequently updated it with additional autobiographical details — a ribbon of academic distinction added to the lapel in 1901, and the names of his two wives painted onto the palette.
It was later chosen as one of the 105 decisive western paintings for Michel Butor's imaginary museum — a remarkable posthumous vindication for an artist long ridiculed by critics.
This is a painting that rewards a wall with real presence. Its monumental figure and deep tonal contrasts hold their own in larger rooms — a study lined with books, a hallway with strong natural light, or a dining room where conversation tends toward the curious and the wry. The Eiffel Tower and the balloon in the sky celebrate modern civilisation, but within the painting they mainly underline the self-confident stance of the artist — which makes it an ideal companion for anyone who has ever backed themselves against the odds. It speaks equally to the art history devotee and to the casual admirer of sheer, unapologetic personality on canvas.
