Théodore Rousseau

Recognition came to Theodore Rousseau relatively late in life. Although some of his work had been accepted by the Salon in the early 1830s, his paintings were continuously rejected between 1836 and 1841. He retaliated by boycotting the Salon in protest against the conservatism of the jury. This earned him the sobriquet le grand refusé. He explored the French countryside tirelessly, finding many of his motifs in the Auvergne and the Forest of Fontainebleau. A handful of critics and a number of his colleagues recognized his talent, this despite the repeated rebuffs his work had received from the official art establishment. The Revolution of 1848 – in which he had taken no active part – had temporarily weakened the power of academic juries.

 

A committee of artists, including Rousseau, took charge of the liberated Salon. In 1848, the French government offered him an important commission for the Musée du Luxembourg. In 1849, he successfully exhibited three paintings at the Salon and was awarded a first-class medal. Henceforth, he was released from the obligation of submitting his work to the jury. In the 1850s his luck finally turned. He was appointed as Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in long-awaited recognition of his artistic achievement in July 1852. An entire gallery was dedicated to his work at the 1855 Paris World’s Fair.

 

Both national and international buyers beat a path to his door. But in 1860 misfortune struck. His wife’s mental health deteriorated, patrons deserted him and his own health suffered. Despite his election as president of the jury of the 1867 World’s Fair he remained deeply dissatisfied with his lack of social recognition. His health continued to decline and he relied increasingly on the support of his life-long friend, the painter Jean-François Millet. Napoleon III elevated him to the rank of Officier de la Légion d’honneur in 1867 but he had little time left to benefit from the award- he died in Barbizon in December of the same year.