Henri Rousseau
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ART AND IMAGES IN PSYCHIATRY The Dream Henri Rousseau James C. Harris, MD Honor to Rousseau…there were speeches and songs composed espe- himself to be an unrecognized artistic genius. In 1871 at the age cially for the occasion; then a few words from Rousseau, who was so 49, he retired from his job at the Paris Excise Office (where he moved he sputtered with pleasure. collected taxes on goods imported to Paris) to devote himself Reminiscences of Picasso’s party for Rousseau1(p13) entirely to art. A member of the petit bourgeois, he champi- oned the politics of fraternity preached by the French Repub- Having fallen into a gentle sleep lic; viewing himself as a true patriot, he often painted patri- Yadwigha, in a dream, otic scenes. His neighbors and friends from his social class Heard the sounds of a musette purchased his popular folk art and appreciated his ability to Played by a benevolent magician. capture the personalities of his subjects in his portraits. Poem accompanying Rousseau’s painting The Dream1(p5) Beginning in 1886, he exhibited nearly every year at the Salon des Indépendants, despite frequent insulting reviews In late November 1908, Pablo Picasso hosted a legendary din- by the press and the scorn of some visitors directed at the ner to honor Henri Rousseau (1844-1910).1,2 Rousseau, a post- simplicity of his art. Impressionist artist who painted in the naive manner, rev- Yet Rousseau may not have been as naive as he seemed. eled in the attention and conviviality of the evening (first In the winter of 1907, the year before the Banquet Rousseau, epigraph) and felt vindicated after enduring years of sarcasm he was arrested for bank fraud and spent time in prison.4 A and ridicule. About 30 guests, mostly in their 20s, among them member of his musical group had convinced him to create a Georges Braque, the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, and Ger- bank account under a false name to assist the friend, a bank trude and Leo Stein, squeezed into Picasso’s small studio in employee, in theft. The friend illegally transferred 21 000 francs Montmartre to celebrate this event, long-known afterwards as to the account and gave Rousseau 1000 francs for his assis- the Banquet Rousseau. Picasso (1881-1973) had met Rousseau tance. After being arrested, Rousseau played on his reputa- on his first visit to Paris 8 years earlier but showed little inter- tion as a gullible petit bourgeois innocent, claiming that he est in him until his chance discovery of Rousseau’s Portrait of was duped. At the trial in January 1908, Rousseau’s defense a Woman. The painting so captivated Picasso that it was promi- attorney presented his paintings in court as examples of his nently displayed at the banquet that was organized, in part, simplemindedness. Rousseau naively asked the judge to to celebrate its acquisition. Picasso found it to be one of the release him from prison so that he could collect his pension. most truthful of all French psychological portraits.3 He had pur- His hilarious remarks in court were widely reported in the chased it for 5 francs at a bric-a-brac shop in Montmartre, and press. Ultimately he was given a suspended sentence and a he valued it so much that it remained with him in his private fine. His exoneration too may have been celebrated at the collection for the rest of his life.3 Banquet Rousseau. The 64-year-old Rousseau arrived in a cab promptly at More confident after his reception at the Banquet and in 6 PM accompanied by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. As the anticipation of the 1910 Salon des Indépendants, Rousseau guest of honor, Rousseau was seated on an elevated Louis asked his friend Apollinaire’s opinion about his entry, The Philippe armchair amid African masks, Chinese lamps, and ea- Dream. Apollinaire responded positively: “Ask the painters. sels. The studio was decorated with flags, twigs, and a huge They are unanimous: they admire it.”3(p13) Thus, by the end of banner behind the elevated armchair proclaiming “Honor to his life, Rousseau had earned the reputation of a respected art- Rousseau.”1(p13) After dinner, neighbors from all over Mont- ist, attracting followers that included academically educated martre came streaming though the studio. The party became painters. Despite striking differences in social background, too raucous for Gertrude Stein and the other Americans, so they style, and art education between Rousseau and the young left early. As the banquet ended, a very drunk Rousseau played avant-garde artists, they admired him. Robert Delaunay re- his violin for the assembled guests. Thanking Picasso for his ferred to him as the grandfather of modernism. Leading art- hospitality, he made this remarkable declaration: “You and I ists such as Jean-Léon Gérôme suggested that he maintain his are the greatest painters of our time. You in the Egyptian style, naivete in his art. Rousseau’s ability to paint unrelated and as- I in the Modern style!”3(p100) sorted things convincingly3(p13) influenced Giorgio de Chiri- Although originally seen by some of the guests as an elabo- co’s use of space and disparate objects, and the surrealists paid rate jest masquerading as a celebration, the banquet had a tribute to Rousseau for his magic realism.3 Unlike his younger transformative effect on Rousseau’s self-confidence. A prod- colleagues with their rigid academic training, Rousseau never uct of the French working class, Rousseau had long believed acquired rules that he could to defy. 1004 JAMA Psychiatry October 2013 Volume 70, Number 10 jamapsychiatry.com Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 09/26/2021 Art and Images in Psychiatry Henri Rousseau (1844-1910), French. The Dream, 1910. Oil on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York. US photo credit: Digital Image. 204.5 × 298.5 cm (6 ft 8½ in × 9 ft 9½ in). Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller. The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, New York. The Dream received nearly unanimous positive reviews Yadwigha…. Hearing flutes, you that year. Yadwigha (second epigraph), a light-skinned, vo- Dreamed yourself away in the moon's eye luptuous, round-breasted, long-haired nude woman, seem- To a beryl jungle, and dreamed that bright moon-lilies ingly oblivious to the wild animals surrounding her, points to Nodded their petaled heads around your couch.5 a black bright-eyed piper. Surrounded by dense foliage and lo- Plath’s focus on the sound of the music of the piper draw- tus flowers, the piper soothes the wild beasts with the sounds ing Yadwigha into a dream is in keeping with common beliefs being played. Rousseau captures the viewer’s attention through about sensory stimuli being incorporated into dreams. Yet with his coloring and arrangement of the images in 3 tiers on this the publication of the second edition of Freud’s The Interpre- huge, nearly 6½ × 10 ft canvas. tation of Dreams (1909), there was renewed interest in the The lowest tier reveals the dreaming woman accompa- meaning of dreams. Freud proposed a dream censor and wish nied by 2 yellow-eyed lions and an orange-bellied snake. The fulfillment in dream interpretation, whereas Jung’s studies female lion stares at the woman, and the moody male lion looks viewed waking consciousness as the only censor and focused out at the viewer. A partially obscured elephant with an ex- on mythological themes and multiple origins for dreams— tended trunk, the black piper, and 11 large-petaled, bright- body perceptions, response to sensory stimuli (such as sound), blue, pale-green, pink, and grayish flowers occupy the middle relation to life experience and trauma, anticipatory, and pro- tier. Two birds and 2 monkeys occupy the top tier, along with phetic. Jung noted that the dream is never simply a repetition a gray bird. The branches of a fruit tree are filled with or- of previous experiences, except in the case of a traumatic dream anges. A white full moon and a pale blue sky complete the top so frightening it cannot be integrated into conscious life.6 tier. All creatures depicted dwell harmoniously in the peace- For most of the 20th century, scientific dream studies were able kingdom of this dream. primarily psychological. Our modern understanding of dream- When asked about the strangeness of the woman being ing began with the recognition by Aserinsky, Kleitman, and De- placed in a jungle, Rousseau explained that she had fallen ment in 1953 that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is closely asleep on a couch and been transported to the forest in her correlated with dream narratives. Thus, the study of dreams dream. The poet Sylvia Plath acknowledged Rousseau’s cre- moved to the sleep laboratory where subjects could be awak- ativity in the following poem: ened from periods of REM sleep and asked to recall dreams. jamapsychiatry.com JAMA Psychiatry October 2013 Volume 70, Number 10 1005 Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 09/26/2021 Art and Images in Psychiatry Since the discovery of the neural underpinnings of REM, sub- out the life span? Jouvet answers by hypothesizing that ge- stantial progress has been made in understanding REM sleep netic reprogramming occurs during REM sleep to sustain in- and dreaming. dividuality. Such reprogramming might also be essential to syn- Hartmann7 summarizes the modern view of dream research aptic circuit modifications that accompany developmental for clinical use. He emphasizes that dreams occur along a con- changes in cognitive capacity. tinuum of mental functioning that ranges from focused wak- Rousseau maintained his personal qualities and beliefs ing consciousness to reverie, daydreaming, and fantasy.