Henri Rousseau’s ‘The Football Players’ is an interesting expressionistic painting created in 1908. This work of art captures a moment of four men playing rugby in a field. The men are depicted as awkward and disproportionate, almost cartoonish figures, implying the lightheartedness associated with the game of football. Although painted when Rousseau was 64 years old, this painting didn’t gain wide recognition until after his death. Amazingly enough, at the time he painted it, Rousseau had never seen a rugby game before. ‘The Football Players’ can be found today in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Despite his lack of experience of rugby, Rousseau’s depiction is considered one of his most exciting paintings. One of Rousseau’s later works titled ‘The Dream’, reveals an equally powerful artistic expression. Showcasing a reclining woman set against a vivid dreamscape with vast desert-like scenes and plants infested with human faces, this painting delves into timeless themes such as love and mystery . All these qualities prompted prominent artists such as Pablo Picasso to be huge admirers of both ‘The Football Players’ and ‘The Dream’ .
