Henri Rousseau, French
The Johnsons Were Thrilled To Discover That If You Stood Far Enough Upwind, You Almost Couldn’t Tell the Baby Needed a Change, 1890s
Oil on canvas
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Info, or links that point to more info, about this artist can be found here, here (archived if necessary), here, here, here, here, here (can be read in full for free on Fridays), here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, perhaps in addition to what’s in his Wikipedia page (Google translated French Wikipedia page has more).
/// In “The Family” by Henri Rousseau,
eight adults are lined up in a row.
A young child sits in front,
who appears, to be blunt,
like an imp from the demons below.
/// At first glance, this is some celebration,
but that’s open to interpretation.
Some are toasting with wine.
Did the others decline?
Their expressions deserve explanation.
/// Three men, under a creeping vine, stand.
Each one holds a full glass in his hand.
Are they happy? Who knows?
Each curled up mustache shows
how to fake “smiles” when faces are bland.
/// The four women have lips turning down.
Like the baby, each one seems to frown.
Two force one, dressed in gray
to advance the child’s way.
Toward the babe in the pristine white gown.
/// Something’s happening, and it’s not nice.
This strange family hides secret vice.
Will the gray woman beg
the man straddling the keg
that she not be this years’ sacrifice?
/// They all gathered this Lammas Day morn,
with the babe just one year ago born.
Planting Mom ‘neath the sod
would appease their wine god,
who had fathered this “child of the corn.”
(People who make wine from corn must be evil.)