- The Sleeping Gypsy
Infobox Painting|
title=The Sleeping Gypsy
artist=Henri Rousseau
year=1897
type=oil on canvas
height=129.5
width=200.7
museum=Museum of Modern Art "The Sleeping Gypsy" or "La Bohémienne endormie" is an 1897
oil painting by French Naïve artistHenri Rousseau . The fantastical depiction of a lion musing over a sleeping woman on a moonlit night is one of the most recognizable artworks of modern times.Rousseau first exhibited the painting at the 13th
Salon des Indépendants , and tried unsuccessfully to sell it to the mayor of his hometown, Laval. Instead it entered the private collection of a Parisian charcoal merchant where it remained until 1924. In 1939 it was brought by MrSimon Guggenheim who gave it to the New YorkMuseum of Modern Art .The painting has served as inspiration for poetry and music, and has been altered and parodied by various artists often with the lion replaced by a dog or other animal. In the "Simpsons" episode "
Mom and Pop Art " Homer dreams of waking up in the artwork with the lion licking his head.External links
* [http://www.moma.org/collection/provenance/items/646.39.html "The Sleeping Gypsy"] MoMA Provenance Research
* [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80172"The Sleeping Gypsy"] in the MoMA Online Collection
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.