Woman walking in an Exotic Forest - Rousseau - Framed Picture 11 x 14

Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French post-impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner.

He was also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector.

He started painting seriously in his early forties; by age 49, he retired from his job to work on his art full-time.

Ridiculed during his lifetime by critics, he came to be recognized as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality. Rousseau's work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of avant-garde artists.

Rousseau's work exerted an extensive influence on several generations of avant-garde artists, including Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Fernand Léger Jean Metzinger, Max Beckmann, and the Surrealists.

In 1911, a retrospective exhibition of Rousseau's works was shown at the Salon des Indépendants. His paintings were also shown at the first Blaue Reiter exhibition.

A Rousseau painting was used as an inspiration for the 2005 animated film Madagascar.