Battling Tiger and Buffalo

Battling Tiger and Buffalo is a 1908 painting produced by Henri Rousseau, a French artist who derived most of his scenes from travel books. Initially, the painting was titled as Dans le Foret Tropicale Combat du Tigre et du Buffle.

However, its name changed to Battling Tiger and Buffalo due to the fierce battle between the two animals. Currently, the painting is in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the Hermitage Museum. The painting is based on the painter's imagination of a tiger attacking a buffalo within the wild. At the time of painting, the painter was in prison, facing charges of fraud that he had been part of 1907.However, he was granted an early release from prison, thus enabling him to finish the piece before its exhibition at Salon des Independents. Despite being self-taught, most of his images not only inspired artists like Pablo Picasso but also encouraged the revolution Avant-garde artist. As a result, this led to a campaign of artists who were either self-taught or interested in naïve style of painting. Lastly, the piece is composed of oil and is on a canvas sheet.

As seen above, the painting crowns the artist as one of the skilled painters to have dominated the art world. For instance, the painter has a good anatomy understanding of both the buffalo and the tiger, thus allowing him to curve both the animals in good shape. Consequently, this portrays the artist as an adventurer, although he was not. In addition to this, we could also say that the painter is well experienced since the painting depicts soft brushstrokes that are on point. Lastly, the painter also has a good understanding of colours since he blends the colours in the art perfectly. As a result, this gives the canvas a beautiful theme rather than a shouting theme, which is often annoying.

Paintings have been a part of man's way of life, with the first ones being in the form of sketches. As a result, it has been used to pass down information to the various generations that have roamed the earth. The artistic world has evolved over the course of time, with multiple artists having different preferences as to what to draw. Some, for instance, have opted to draw nature, while others are choosing to do portraits, Greek mythology, or even drawing Christian paintings. In today's piece, however, we’ll have a look at a nature painting titled Battling Tiger and Buffalo by Henri Rousseau.