The French painter Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (1844-1910) was always valued by other artists but unterrated by art critics. One of them wrote “Monsieur Rousseau paints with his feet, with a blindfold over his eyes.”
Picasso, on the other hand, knew quality when he saw it. He organized a Banquet for Rousseau which was attended by Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean Metzinger, Juan Gris, Max Jacob, Marie Laurencin, André Salmon, Maurice Raynal, Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, Leo Stein, and Gertrude Stein.
Curator Daniela Shabnam Bonetti, an Italian storyteller and therapist-in-training, states: “Henri Rousseau was highly appreciated by his contemporary colleagues and often mistreated by the critics of his time.”
She decided to organize a tribute to the French painter with reflexions on Rousseau’s works and invited contemporary mail artists to reinterpret them, overturn them, or play with them.
You can see a small sample of the solutions on top of the page.
Exhibitions
The real-world exhibition is open from January 20th to April 1st and can be visited by appointment at the Api Libere, via E. Cavicchioni 11, Codemondo, Reggio Emilia.
For appointments and more information call 349 845 2986 or 349 121.
If you happen to be far away from Reggio Emilia, you can visit the virtual exhibition on Instagram
mail your art 