UNKNOWN ROUSSEAU


...at least to me. I don't claim to have any kind of knowledge of art, beyond knowing what I like. I've had a print of Rousseau's The Snake Charmer for ages, and remember how it had an almost physical impact on me when I first saw it: Yes - that's it! That's how it is! though the 'it' in question was and is beyond articulation. Some perspective, some sense of mental ordering or state of imagination. Certainly it had a lot to do with my personal dream-world. Dali's Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee... and Ernst's The Angel of Hearth and Home had a similar effect. It's not something that happens now, sadly, but I like how in the above image it seems the lion is a product of the gypsy's dreaming, yet it still presents a threat to him.