Henri Rousseau’s “Promeneurs dans un Parc,” created in 1908, is an oil on canvas exemplifying the Naïve Art (Primitivism) movement. The cityscape genre is evident within the artwork, which is currently housed at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, France. In this masterful piece, Rousseau employs a distinctively unrefined aesthetic that defines his oeuvre and the Naïve Art movement as a whole.
The artwork depicts a serene park scene with several figures scattered throughout. In the foreground, there is a walkway leading toward an arched entry in a stone wall, where the figures appear to be coming and going. To the right are white, multi-story buildings with red roofs, which contrast sharply with the lush greenery of the trees that arch over the top of the painting, suggesting a densely vegetated area behind the wall. The light in the painting creates an atmosphere of a calm, overcast day, subtly realised without the use of vivid colors or dramatic shadows. Rousseau’s style is characterized by the flatness of the forms, a simplified perspective, and a distinct lack of detail that might be found in more classically rendered works, yet the scene is coherent and emanates a peaceful charm.
