Painting in acrylics on canvas by Vanessa Playford from 2026.

“All-seeing Henri” is an homage to Henri Rousseau, the French painter recognised for his pioneering role in the emergence of “naive” and modern art.

He painted some of the most haunting, dreamlike jungle scenes ever made, despite never setting foot outside France.

He had no formal artistic training, but came to be recognised as a self-taught genius whose works are of high artistic quality.

Rousseau didn't use traditional vanishing points. His work features flat perspectives, simple shapes, bright colours. His foregrounds and backgrounds occupy roughly the same visual plane, which gives his paintings a tapestry-like quality. Everything is foreground. Everything matters equally.

dimensions (incl. frame)
height: 54cm
width: 43.5cm
depth: 3cm
weight: 1kg

canvas
height: 50.5cm
width: 40.5cm

Painting.
Acrylics on canvas.
Oak box frame.
Made in Australia.

See our full selection of work by Vanessa Playford.

Vanessa Playford lives and works in Sydney, Australia. She is a self proclaimed "outsider artist" and has pursed her own journey into abstraction to investigate the many forms of emotion and space within the human condition.

The tension between meditative observation and dynamic energy is offered through a myriad of colours, tones, and paint applications, from wispy flickers to determined impasto strokes.

Read more about Vanessa Playford.