"The Sleeping Gypsy" was first exhibited at the 13th Salon des Indépendants, where Rousseau 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, when it was discovered by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles and purchased by the Paris-based art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, although a controversy arose over whether the painting was a forgery. It was acquired by art historian Alfred H. Barr Jr. for the New York Museum of Modern Art.

A fantastical depiction of a lion musing over a sleeping woman on a moonlit night, 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. A print of the work appears in the movie "The Apartment" (Billy Wilder, 1960) above the comatose Fran Kubelik.

Oil on canvas, cm 130 × 200, 1897.
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
 
Uploaded on 02 September 2015 into category: Painting

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Is this a symptom of art?