Henri Rousseau (1844-1910), nicknamed "Le Douanier," is a pioneering artist of the 19th and 20th centuries. A self-educated man who never left the city limits of Paris, he drew inspiration from books recounting French expeditions to Africa and Cochinchina. Declared the "painter of exoticism" by Guillaume Apollinaire, he developed a unique style exposing the power of his imagination. Renowned primarily for his bright jungle and wild animal representations, as well as his portraits, Rousseau is a fi gurehead of the Naïve art movement.