Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!)

The story

Rousseau worked for the Paris customs office and taught himself to paint. He never left France. His jungles came from the Paris botanical gardens, the zoo and picture books.

Look closer

1. The rain: thin silver lines drawn across the whole picture.
2. Lightning in the top-right corner.
3. Count the greens. There are dozens, each leaf its own shape.

Why we can show it

Henri Rousseau died in 1910. UK copyright lasts for the artist’s life plus 70 years, so even under today’s rules this painting would have been free for anyone to show since 1981. The photograph is a faithful copy of a flat work, which creates no new copyright. We do not store the picture: it comes from Wikimedia Commons each time it is needed. More on this.