Le Douanier Rousseau

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A French painter famous for simple, dreamlike jungle scenes

proper noun

: Le Douanier Rousseau

The naive style of Le Douanier Rousseau was initially ridiculed but is now highly celebrated.

Examples

Many art historians have studied the unique, dreamlike quality in Le Douanier Rousseau's jungle scenes.
A major exhibition of Le Douanier Rousseau's works attracted thousands of visitors to the museum.
Many art critics admire Le Douanier Rousseau for his unique style.
Did you see the exhibition featuring Le Douanier Rousseau?
A major exhibition of Le Douanier Rousseau's works attracted thousands of visitors to the museum.
Many art historians have studied the unique, dreamlike quality in Le Douanier Rousseau's jungle scenes.
The naive style of Le Douanier Rousseau was initially ridiculed but is now highly celebrated.

Surface Forms

Le Douanier Rousseau main

Morphology

Le + Douanier + Rousseau

The phrase is literally compositional in French — 'Le' = 'the', 'douanier' = 'customs officer', plus the surname Rousseau — so a learner who knows the constituents could infer a literal sense like 'the customs officer Rousseau'. However, its use as a culturally specific nickname referring to Henri Rousseau the painter (and his artistic identity) is not deducible from the words alone without background knowledge, making the transparency partial.

Etymology

The name Le Douanier Rousseau comes from the painter Henri Rousseau's real job as a douanier, a 'customs officer'. Because people knew him first as a douanier, the nickname stuck, so today Le Douanier Rousseau refers to that famous painter.