Collection: Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets

The Barnes Foundation

October 19, 2025 – February 22, 2026

Step into the lush, hypnotic world of Henri Rousseau, one of the boldest forces in modern art.

Born in 1844, and with no formal art training, Rousseau defied the odds to become a cult figure to avant-garde legends such as Pablo Picasso. His paintings—dreamlike, symbolic, and deeply strange—range from imaginative visions of the jungle to portraits that capture his neighbors and loved ones.

Henri Rousseau: A Painter’s Secrets is the first major US exhibition in decades dedicated to this pioneering French painter. Featuring more than 60 works—including world-famous highlights like The Sleeping Gypsy, The Snake Charmer, and Unpleasant Surprise—the exhibition invites you to see Rousseau in a whole new light.

Don’t miss this world-premiere exhibition that unveils new research discoveries—including hidden layers beneath some of Rousseau’s celebrated paintings—and brings together, for the first time, the two most important Rousseau collections in the world, those of the Barnes Foundation and the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris.