You may know the phenomenon to question the seriousness of certain works of art or to understand it as not artistically valuable. There are paintings that look like children's hand.
If you then take a closer look at the creator, the age of the artist often causes astonishment. Can you remember such events?
They were very likely to stand in front of a work of naive art direction (also called lay painting).
What is naive art? - Definition, characteristics and related styles
What is naive painting?
The term "naive art" describes artistic works by autodidacts by style definition, which opt for simplified, carefree and imaginative motifs without having enjoyed formal training.
Naive painting is therefore practiced by artists who have acquired their knowledge independently by trying out different painting techniques. For this reason, this style is also referred to as lay painting , since it often lacks conventional specialist knowledge about the formal methods.
Nevertheless, the painters should not be confused with people who paint out of pure fun or do their passion as a mere hobby . A supporter of naive art creates his works with the same passion of a trained painter and pursues certain intentions, such as the expression of his emotional world and ideas in a non-academized way.
Characteristics of naive painting:
Simple representations of objects (often with a child's character)
carefree and imaginative implementation of visions
Typical lack of prospects of objects that seem to float in the room (without the rules for the representation of perspective from the Renaissance)
Correct proportions and geometric laws are not taken into account
No use of shadows
Very detailed work with saturated and brilliant colors
Often the works of art individual dreams or inner worlds of experience , which the author feels deep inside.
When choosing their motifs for works of art, naive artists often use everyday objects or the immediate surroundings. Sometimes they are also inspired by dreamy pictures. The presentation is often carried out in a simple form, whereby objects and living things are greatly simplified.
Many artists deliberately forego the reproduction of light and shadow and instead rely on strong, bright colors. Naive artists often develop an emotional bond with their works because they choose motifs related to personal experiences, dreams or fates.
Classification in the art world and related styles
Naive painting wants to secrete the insignificant, formalized approach of other arts and focus on clarity and simplicity without wanting to convince through methodology.
Naive art seems to be related to the concept of art of primitivism , to which important representatives such as Max Ernst, Paul Gaugin, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner can be attributed.
Primitivism in art is a movement of artists who deal with archaic and ethnological art that is not part of the traditional canon of art history. During this time, at the beginning of the last century, the artists consider the sculptures of the tribal cultures to be fascinating.
In contrast to naive art, primitivism is an intellectual attitude to be inspired by western design dogmas and towards the more archaic approaches of indigenous peoples.
The primitivism of the early 20th century simplified art in a problematic manner by assuming non-western artists. This mirrors t colonialist thinking patterns and ignores the profound meanings behind non-western works of art.
In this way, contemporary works of art ahmen naive painting indigenous peoples without taking into account their cultural development. The avant -garde appreciated this unconventional art for its vitality, but it was disrespectful.
Naive painting as well as forms of primitivism also overlap with the art currents of the Anglo -American Outsider Art or the French kind .
Both terms include works of art by people who have no knowledge of artistic methods. Rather, they follow their inner urge to express themselves through colors. Children, people with disabilities and mental illnesses or social outsiders are expected as the main actors of this form of simple art.
Your works are characterized by a creative ingenuity, an extensive imagination and unconventional imagery .
avant -garde art currents they can be characterized by a special radicality compared to existing political conditions or prevailing aesthetic norms. In contrast to the self -proclaimed avant -garde, this does not have to be wanted and can be completely intuitive.
The variety within the autodidactic art currents and individuality are extremely pronounced. This is mainly due to the diverse influences and the open design options without rigid rules and techniques.
An exact delimitation of the autodidactic art currents is almost impossible.
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The history of the art of art
Although naive painting officially born in the 19th century , their actual ideas and principles go far back into the past. Even if in the provisional history there cannot be talk of an art direction , many people still had the desire for reflection on simple and clear.
Raplets to primitive templates can be seen in almost every artistic style.
First approaches in antiquity
Old writings complain that there was a lack of clarity and simplicity in rhetoric, for example. In the course of history, people found admiration of simple ways of life of original peoples.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans described such indigenous people on their journey of discovery as noble, innocent, wise and unspoiled. The simplicity of their thoughts was considered the basis of a pure virtue and stood the superficial and soft European society. Their values were considered artificially.
Further development in the 18th century
This era was characterized by the clarification, which took up the ideas of a simple life. In this way of life, enlighteners saw the potential of a state of happiness that was characterized by a special euphoria.
Since then it has been a classic element in religious, political and aesthetic ideas. For the first time, ideas of simple as methods in painting prevailed. Clear lines with a focus on the detail and natural-aesthetic forms have now been found in classicism as methodological norms.
Birth hour in the 19th century
Paul Gauguin was a French painter whose early works can be attributed to impressionism . He was considered a restless person and was characterized by an inner unrest and tornness. When he became aware of these gaps in his own soul, he gave himself a promise.
He wanted to study the original and primitive in order to promote the process of self -healing. He believed that simplified forms exuded a power of superiority.
In 1888 he came back to his French home in Brittany after his Caribbean trips. His experiences were the drive to develop an independent painting style with an individual visual language. This style was referred to in literature as symbolism , post-impressionism or synthism . In truth, Gauguin is the founder of primitivism.
His picture "The vision after the sermon - Jakob's struggle with the angel" is considered a milestone in its artistic development. Forms, objects and colors are no longer shaped by impressions from nature, but are guided by its imagination.
In the factory, the artist combines the visible in the form of a praying woman with his visions, which are represented by an angel. It symbolizes the change from optically shaped arts to represent mental ideas. Gauguin's naive painting is more of philosophical nature and takes a background aesthetics.
The artist liked to call himself a wild personality. In his representations, many interpreters see a return to the artistic activities of old cultures.
With his works, he pursued the intention of drawing attention to simple and original motifs. He not only wanted to rejuvenate painting, but also renew.
Gauguin deliberately turned away from modern art . It was opposed to his ideas to illusorously present reality with painted. Rather, he expressed his own feelings and thoughts through colors and shapes. These inner aspirations are clearly recognizable in a letter line, with which the painter warned one of his friends:
Don't paint too much for nature. The work of art is an abstraction. Pull it out of nature by leaving and dreaming in front of her. "
20th century
The key topic of modern primitivism is the demand for clarity , but goes far beyond.
The term "naive art" was first used in the 1920s by the German art writer Wilhelm Uhde . Under this "new flag", the art connoisseur combined artists such as Henri Rousseau and André Bauchant in an exhibition.
Adalbert Trillhaase was particularly funded by him , which was defamed during the Nazi era.
His works such as “The Merciful Samaritan” reflect simple, fateful moments. Trillhaase died in 1936 and is still honored by the Park Trillhase. It is still considered the most important naive painter in Germany.
The awareness of this art flow rose rapidly when the hiking exhibition "Maîtres Populaires de la Réalités" was seen for the first time in Paris and Zurich in 1937. Nevertheless, the style was not particularly highly valued at this time. The appreciation of such simple arts such as the kind of brood or the outsid art are phenomena of the present.
It was after the Second World War when Naive painting from Kovačica, Serbia won great recognition and popularity. Numerous illustrated books were published and international exhibitions, including UNESCO participation, took place.
Well -known representatives of this current such as Zuzana Halupova , Martin Jonaš and others significantly shaped the artistic movement. Zuzana Halupova's works were even used on UNICEF greeting cards and were used in different projects. The variety and quality of this art made it a known size worldwide.
Many still living and contemporary artists continue to strive for recognition of their works and see naive painting as a professional art form, while other painters refuse against such commercialization.
Significant representative of autodidactic arts
Henri Rousseau & contemporaries
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910), who is also referred to as "Der Zöllner" (French: Le Douanier), is considered the most famous artist in this direction. His naive art of mirrors t opposite the jungle with the tropical vegetation, with the painter also created portraits in a simple style.
The French painter Henri Rousseau was famous for his naive paintings. At the same time, he is also considered a pioneer of surrealism. In particular, his work “The Dream” illustrates this in an impressive way. In a lavish jungle landscape, wild animals, colorful birds, climbing monkeys, palm trees and trees with bright orange fruits can be seen. The idyllic scenery is immersed in a paradisiacal light from the round, white moon.
In the middle of the picture, a black figure plays gently on a wind instrument, while a naked woman is lying on a red velvet sofa and with arm and hand on flowers that shows the musician and the animals. Is it the dreaming? Does the viewer run a hike through your dream world? The painting exudes a peaceful serenity in which everything harmoniously exists side by side: colorful flowers weigh themselves into the melody of the musician in harmony.
Important style elements of the naive paintings of Rousseau are movements that appear frozen in a quiet room with a lot of depth. Either strict profile views or direct frontal views are typical of the faces of the figures. This representation is considered characteristic of naive painting, in which people can never be seen from behind or rarely with a hidden face.
A deep passion is hidden in the rigid eyes of Rousseau's subjects and the precise lines. Many of his contemporaries followed a similarly passionate connection on different topics:
André Bauchant (1873-1958): Passion for ancient mythology and close connection to nature
Alfred Wallis (1855-1942): Primitive boot paintings that sprang from the memory
Ben Nicholson (1894-1982): Seive to clear lines and primary colors
Camille Bombois (1883-1970): landscapes, female acts and fair scenes
Louis Vivin (1861-1936): Love for flowers, hunting, cities and still life
Séraphine Louis (1864-1942): Floral motifs in abstract form, mystical-religious
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo was one of the most important artists in the 20th century and, together with her husband Diego Rivera, formed a legendary couple. Despite serious health challenges, she remained passionate, rebellious and independent.
The tragic love story between Kahlo and Rivera as well as Kahlos revolutionary personality shaped their moving life sustainably. Her artistic work and political engagement have left an unforgettable impression in the art world of her era.
Although the Mexican artistone was often assigned to surrealism - presumably also due to the admiration by the surrealistic poet André Breton - like Frida always back this classification.
In fact, she was an autodidactic artist and had not enjoyed traditional training (only a few basic knowledge of a engraver named Fernando Fernández, a friend of the family) She always followed her intuitive creative process and can therefore undoubtedly be assigned to the naive art movement.
Thematically, her art spanned an arc from self-portraits to gender issues to identity and postcolonialism issues. This approach combined the fantastic with the real in a way that reminds of surrealism and magical realism and has the directness of murals.
Her work achieved international attention like no other naive artist, also partly because of her moving biography.
In which museums can you find exhibitions of naive art?
Works of art by car did notes are now being exhibited in numerous museums in Europe, Russia and America.
In the following museums (a selection) you will find special exhibitions of autodidactic lay artists in the following and in many cases:
Germany
Art Museum Collection Zander in the Stadium Castle in Bönnigheim
Department of Naive Art in the Clemens Sels Museum in Neuss
Collection area for naive art in the Museum of European Cultures in Berlin
Collection of Polish Naiver Kunst (Hans-Joachim and Christina Orth) in the painting and sculpture collection of the city of Nuremberg (as a permanent loan at the Berlin Museums))
Museum Haus Cajeth in Heidelberg
Belgium
Musée d'Art Spontané in Brussels
Art et Marges Musée in Brussels
Madmusée in Liège
France
Musée International d'Art Naïf Anatole Jakovsky in Nice
Halle Saint Pierre in Paris
Musée d'Art naïf de vicq en Île-de-France in Vicq
Musée d'Art naïf et d'Arts Singuliers in the Laval Castle in Laval
Musée Municipal d'Art Naïf et Populaires in Nouyer-sur-Serein
Lam-Lille Métropole, Musée d'Art Moderne, d'Art Contemporain et d'Art brood in Villeneuve-d'ascq
Man Musée d'Art Naif in Béraut
Italy
Museo Nazionale delle Arti Naïves Cesare Zavattini in Luzzara
Spain
Museum of Naive Art in Figueres
Portugal
Museu de Arte Primitiva Moderna in Guimarães
Poland
Gallery d'Art Naif in Krakow
Switzerland
Museum in the warehouse in St. Gallen
Croatia
Croatian Museum of Naive Art in Zagreb
Galerija Naivne Umjetnosti in Hlebine
USA
American Folk Art Museum in New York City
Anthony Petullo Collection in Milwaukee
Croatian Naive Art Gallery & Museum Collection in Saint Petersburg, Florida
Canada
Le Musée International d'Art Naïf in Magog
Brazil
Museu do Sol in Penápolis
Museo Internacional de Arte Naïf de Brazil in Cosme Velho, Rio de Janeiro
Galeria Jacques Ardies in São Paulo
Where can you buy naive art?
First of all, you will find what you are looking for in the Kunstplaza online gallery, as we have recorded some contemporary artists from this section:
Apart from that, the naive art finds its space in large museums and art exhibitions , where the works can also be bought. Some artists of today sell their paintings, which are tagged accordingly, on their own websites .
Even in art auctions , there are constant auctions of naive art and kind of brood:
Catawiki
Catawiki is Europe's most visited curated marketplace for special objects - every week over 65,000 objects are offered in the auctions. The aim of the operators is to enable their customers to buy and sell special objects on the platform.
There are also numerous virtual collections in which different painters are represented with their primitive creations. Here a template is printed on a desired medium and in this way reproduced.
If you are looking for unique items , take a look around well-known e-commerce platforms for the sale of art. These platforms offer established, but also young, aspiring or even unknown artists of the kind of brood and outsider art a way to present and bring their creations to the world.
Art finder
Art finder was founded because there are artists everywhere - and people who value authentic, handmade works of art. The founders believe in "Made to Last" , in ethical production, in the establishment of a company that improves our lives by supporting creativity in communities around the world.
Artists sell their art directly through this platform. Art that awakens our imagination, transformed our home and expressed who we really are. Find and buy original works of art, regardless of taste or budget. Including almost 10,000 works of naive art.
At Ars Mundi you will find works by renowned artists of the 20th and 21st centuries as well as high -quality reproductions of world -famous art objects. From Picasso and Chagall , Rodin and Degas to Hundertwasser and Immendorff.
Discover over 10,000 art objects that you will hardly find somewhere else - many are available exclusively from Ars Mundi - by Ars Mundi and produced exclusively for Ars Mundi. Including almost 1,000 works in naive art direction.
Discover unprecedented selection of works of art by artists from all over the world for every budget, every style and every room.
See new works of art approved by the curator in special collections that appear every week, or work with an art consultant to receive personalized recommendations.
The online gallery owners appreciate the talented artists who represent them and pay them more than other galleries for every sale.
A 7-day 100% money-back guarantee enables you to buy with trust. If you are not satisfied with your purchase, just send the work of art back.
More than 8,000 works in the field of art brood, naive art and outsider art can be found in Saatchi Art.
Through the global presentation of its artists, the team of the international online art gallery Singulart accompany art lovers and collectors on a journey of discovery through new artistic horizons and cultures.
Singulart provides the artists with tools, thanks to which they can autonomously design their PR and sales processes.
More than 600 artists frolic here in the "Naive Painting" section.
Thomas Grochowiak : German naive art. Verlag Bongers, Recklinghausen 1976, ISBN 3-7647-0253-2.
Sam Phillips: "Primitivism", in: 'Understand Modern Art - From Impressionism to the 21st Century', Leipzig, 2015, pp. 36ff.
Oto Bihalji-Merin and Nebojsa-Bato Tomasevic : world cylopedic naive art. Hundred years of naive art. Parkland o. O., Stuttgart, 1989
Volker Dallmeier : naive art. History and present. Bielefeld 1981 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Cultural History Museum)
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Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011. Successful conclusion in web design as part of a university degree (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expression painting and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through many years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.
Like every topic, art a wealth of subject -specific terms, expressions, abbreviations and foreign words.
In this section we would like to bring you closer to a few of the most important and common terms.
able to get to know and deepen a number of information, definitions, definitions, liturgical terms, common specialist expressions and their abbreviations as well as terms of the concepts of art theory, art history
In art, artists and works of art are classified in styles . These are based on common characteristic features of the works of art and cultural products of a age.
The division into epochs serves as a tool for structuring and classification of works and artists into a temporal framework and a cultural history.
The knowledge of Art Periods And Movements plays a major role, especially in art trade as well as in art theory and classic image analysis.
In this section of the art blog, we would like to help you a better understanding of these eras, styles and currents.
Art styles and styles
The art style or the style in works of art describes the uniform expression of the works of art and cultural products from an age, an artist or an artist group, an art direction or art school.
It is a tool for classification and systematization of the variety of art. He denotes unanimous things that differ from others.
The term is thematically related to Art Movement , but is not only to be seen in a temporal framework and therefore far more comprehensive.
In this section we would like to help you a better understanding of styles and currents in art.
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