# Oak Branch

- By: Henri Rousseau (French, 1844–1910)
- Date: 1907/08
- Medium: Pen and gray ink on cream wove paper
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: 15.9 × 10.9 cm (6 5/16 × 4 5/16 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/186406)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/a72c7248-28af-7527-b067-70f2db93b1f1/full/!1380,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

According to his close friend, artist Robert Delaunay, all of Rousseau’s drawings were destroyed after his death. However, as the inscription indicates, this rare drawing was a gift from the artist to a certain “Mademoiselle Herminie,” and it survived as a result. Rousseau often used flowers in his work for their symbolic meanings. He was particularly fond of daisies, which traditionally represent innocence and purity. Perhaps a more heartfelt message was intended here, as the petals of daisies are often plucked, one by one, to find out if one is loved: “she loves me, she loves me not.”

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0