As a result, there was a body of work infused with eccentricity and mystery. Henri Rousseau was largely self-taught, which can be seen in his lack of academic training and use of sharp, unnatural colors. The New York Museum of Modern Art currently houses the work in its permanent collection. There was some debate about whether the painting was actually a forgery. An art dealer bought it from the merchant’s private collection in 1924, and it remained in his collection until 1924. The painting was shown for the first time at the 13th Salon des Indépendants in Paris. A lion gazes upon a woman sleeping on the moonlit night in this fantasy work. Henri Rousseau, a French painter from 1897, created The Sleeping Gypsy (French: La Bohémienne endormie) as an oil painting. It is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Instead he manages to bring us to the Oneness that connects us all to whatever subject he has chosen to explore.Credit: Henri Rousseau painted the sleeping gypsy in 1897. He always find a way to link the stories he writes with a broader stroke that applies to us all, and not simply those interested in this one artist, one painting, or other one thing. Gerstein has a way with his author's notes, as well, giving us the bits of information relative to again instilling this idea, that imagination is a useful tool, and mystery a powerful stimulator for creating. It is very unusual to find a picture book for children written in the tense and voice that Mordecai Gerstein has managed here, and it works beautifully to bring the reader into the story and also to know they have the freedom to imagine a different story behind this painting. Herein lies a tale of what may have been one story behind this, which infers knowledge and perhaps research from Rousseau's writings, but clearly has taken liberties with imagination. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about dreams, artists, and the powerful effect that art can have upon us, its ability to command our attention and draw a response.Īs a child, this painting is one that more than most others called me to wonder and mystery. There are moments of humor, as when the narrator informs us that Rousseau ignored all critiques, and moments of beauty as well. The illustrations here, done in acrylics, build seamlessly upon the style and aesthetics of the original painting, expanding its vision in interesting and thought-provoking ways. I really enjoyed this exploration of one possible back-story for a painting that he has found personally inspiring, especially since I have seen The Sleeping Gypsy many times, while visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When Rousseau himself shows up and begins painting her, each of the animals, save the lion, has so much to say about the painting, that he ends up erased from the canvas.Īwarded a Caldecott Medal in 2004 for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, Mordicai Gerstein is a prolific and immensely talented artist in his own right. Following a young woman as she treks across the desert, the narrative chronicles her singing, her nighttime rest, and the many animals who come to examine her. Inspired by French artist Henri Rousseau's famous painting, The Sleeping Gypsy, author/illustrator Mordicai Gerstein imagines the story - as contained in Rousseau's dream - that might lie behind the celebrated work of art.
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