Early Life and the Unconventional Path to Art Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (May 21, 1844 – September 2, 1910) was a French Post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He is also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer), a humorous description of his occupation as a tax collector. Ridiculed during his lifetime by critics, he came to be recognized as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality. Henri…