Painted in 1990, Rousseau exemplifies Kitaj’s later style and his liberal reference to literature and art history inspirations in constructing his images and compositions. The wild and exaggerated red tree branches contrast drastically with the vibrant green background, forming a expressive yet disorienting landscape that seems to be moving constantly as his explorative use of lines freely construct forms on the canvas. A body of turquoise water sitting in the foreground with a man sitting on a bench-like yellow structure, stretching his exaggerated long arm to his front. The mystical subject seems to echo the title “Rousseau”, as the figure seems to be in a vibrantly imagined spiritual world.