Henri Rousseau's work of the past seven…
1893 CE
During this period he has exhibited some twenty paintings at the Salon des Indépendants, but he remains essentially an amateur, dividing his time among painting, work at the tollhouse, and family life.
Within these several years he has lost all of his family except for a daughter, whom he has sent to live with relatives.
He retires from the tollhouse in 1893 to devote himself entirely to painting.
Soon afterward, he meets Alfred Jarry, a brilliant young writer, also from Laval, whose nonconformity shocks his contemporaries.
Jarry is struck by Rousseau's unusual work and introduces the self-taught artist to the circle of intellectuals associated with the avant-garde review Le Mercure de France.