Article: Le douanier as medium? Henri Rousseau and spiritualism: towards the end of his life, Henri Rousseau was often discussed with reference to the supernatural. As Nancy Ireson explains, spiritualism--like 'the primitive'--was one of the keys with which contemporary critics sought to understand his personality and art.

In March 1910, the critic Arsene Alexandre interviewed Henri Rousseau in his Montrouge studio, where the artist was working on one of his jungle pictures. As he was about to leave, the critic noticed an extraordinary canvas entitled Le Present et le Passe (Fig. 1), which he described for his readers. The image is autobiographical; it shows Rousseau and his second wife, both smartly dressed, in a landscape setting. Above the heads of these figures hover the ghostly presences of their former spouses; at the foot of the painting a poem is inscribed that explains how the couple will remember their lost loves. Noting Alexandre's interest, the Douanier added his own comments. ...

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