Naif Art

Naif Art

Artistic Movements, Periods and Styles in 5 Points

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Naif Art

• Since the beginning of modern art there has been a fascination for the primitive, the fresh, the naive. It was noticed that simplicity and spontaneity “cannot be learned.” Any other resource can be acquired. It is at the end of the 19th century when young painters were amazed by the work of an amateur, a customs officer with a modest life who began to paint after the age of 40: Henri Rousseau.
• The naif artist had no academic training. He was self-taught. And precisely his works are valued for avoiding the “contamination” of conventions.
• Although “naif” means “naïve,” we should not think of it in a pejorative way. It means to appeal to the original naivety, to the child inside ourselves, to achieve a sincere vision of the world without affectation.
• Characteristic of naive art are the well-defined contours, the lack of perspective, the volumetric sensation achieved through extraordinary coloring, detailed and meticulous painting (although not realistic) and great expressive power.
• Naif art has a humble spirit. Sometimes we imagine the artist searching for just a small moment of serene happiness while painting. Without huge egos and without shouting his theories. Painting in silence.

Representative Artists: Rousseau, Vinvin, Louis, Bauchant, Bombois.

Image: The Sleeping Gypsy (1897). Henri Rousseau.

Recommended links:

The Dream (1910), Henri Rousseau.

The “Avant-garde” movements.

Primitivism in Modernity.

Six examples of primitivism.

 When does Modern Art Start?

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