View of Montsouris Park, the Kiosk (Vue du parc Montsouris, le kiosque)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Here we see a group of people strolling through the Parc Montsouris, one of four parks that opened in Paris during the 1870s, a period of urban renewal throughout the city. A popular location, the park included an artificial lake, which Rousseau has pictured here. The flatness of the scene makes it look as though the figures in the foreground are walking across a stage and the landscape is painted on a backdrop. Many artists in later generations admired this sense of spatial dislocation, often present in Rousseau's works.

Source ↗