Henri Rousseau, called 'Le Douanier' because of his early career with the French customs service, is one of the most important, fascinating and least studied of late nineteenth-century artists. His determined and unapologetic primitivism distanced his work from most of his contemporaries, but he was widely admired by Picasso, Apollinaire and Kandinsky, and is now seen as one of the pioneers of the modern movement. This book offers a detailed portrait of Rousseau's life and career as well as sensitive interpretations of his unusual, individualistic art. With some 200 illustrations, this book tells the strange life story of Henri Rousseau: his petty bourgeois background, his attempts to establish himself as an independent artist, and his reaction to the derision with which his art was greeted. Light foxing on the top edge of the text block. Heavy book requires courier delivery.