1940s After Henri Rousseau, Original "The Toll-Gate" Swiss Lithograph

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A beautiful large vintage original offset lithograph, full-color print, of painting "The Toll-Gate" (1900) by Henri Rousseau. Signed in the … Read more A beautiful large vintage original offset lithograph, full-color print, of painting "The Toll-Gate" (1900) by Henri Rousseau. Signed in the print at the lower right corner: "H.Rousseau". Printed on one side. Hand tipped-in on a board of heavy paper. Numbered. Name of the artist and information about original painting will be found by lifting the plate. Comes from a rare art folio published by Albert Skira, in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1940s. First Limited Edition. Excellent condition - minor age wear on the the board, never framed.

Overall 11"W x 15"H
Image 8.25"W x 10.25"H

This is one of the toll-gates on the outskirts of Paris where it was the Douanier's (Rousseau also was known as Douanier - the customs officer) function to repress the smuggling-in of dutiable goods. We may be sure he did this leniently, observing, the while, from the corner of an eye, any picturesque details of the nearly landscape. Here Rousseau is trying, purely and simply, to give an exact representation of the scene. And the oddest thing is that he really believed his Toll-Gate looked like this. Actually that part of the picture showing the gate and the ramp of old fortifications of Paris displays an astounding faculty of invention. Though he was a contemporary of Renoir and Cezanne, Impressionism never impaired the serenity of his wholly objective view of the world; indeed he never knew what a "sensation" might be. See less