Le navire dans la tempete

1886–1893

Twenty paintings in seven years: ridicule and friends

Over the next seven years Rousseau, dividing his time between work, family and painting, showed about twenty pictures at the Salon des Indépendants; the public barely noticed them and critics kept mocking them, but his friends, the Impressionist painters, supported him, valuing his spontaneity and sincerity.

late 1880s – early 1890s

Loses nearly all of his family

In the next few years after his wife’s death Rousseau lost the rest of his family as well, except for one daughter, whom he sent to live with relatives. The most notable work of these years was his self-portrait of 1890.

1888

Death of his wife Clémence

Rousseau’s wife Clémence died in 1888 after a long illness, and he was left a widower.

1889

The 1889 World’s Fair and a vaudeville about it

The 1889 World’s Fair, where pavilions reproduced views of Senegal, Tonkin and Tahiti, impressed Rousseau so much that he wrote a vaudeville, “A Visit to the 1889 Exhibition,” which was never staged. It may also have influenced his exotic landscapes.

1891

First serious review: Vallotton on the tiger

In 1891 “Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)” was exhibited, and the young painter Félix Vallotton wrote that the tiger surprising its prey was not to be missed — “the alpha and omega of painting.” It was Rousseau’s first serious review; he did not return to his jungles for more than a decade.