Artist Bio
Rousseau, Theodore
Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867) was born in Paris and studied painting with his uncle, Pierre-Alexandre Pau de Saint Martin. The two worked outdoors at Compiegne, where Rousseau learned by copying his uncle's work. He worked briefly as a bookkeeper but continued to study painting with Jean-Claude Remond and in the atelier of portrait painter Guillaume Guillon-Lethiere. Always an individualist, Rousseau did not meet with general acceptance at the French Academy and his work was frequently rejected for exhibition. In frustration, he exhibited at a colleague's studio, a then unheard-of practice. Lacking the Academy's support, Rousseau found it difficult to secure patronage. After the Revolution of 1848, official tastes changed and Rousseau was finally named to a committee at the Academy and received a state commission. In 1852 he was named a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur. He was the first artist to live and work in Barbizon, where he was joined by his colleague Jean-Francois Millet. Rousseau experimented with novel techniques and often re-worked his canvases obsessively; his work baffled artists and critics alike. He exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in 1855 and was elected to its jury in 1866. Despite being elevated to Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1867, the honor came when Rousseau was suffering from a series of debilitating strokes. Though his successes were hard won, Rousseau had a profound influence on 19th-century painting and became known as "the father of the Barbizon School." No items found.