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Henri Rousseau's The Repast of the Lion (circa 1907), is an example of naïve art.

Naïve art is any form of visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing).^[1] When this aesthetic is emulated by a trained artist, the result is sometimes called primitivism, pseudo-naïve art,^[2] or faux naïve art.^[3] Unlike folk art, naïve art does not necessarily evince a distinct cultural context or tradition.^[1] Naïve art is recognized, and often imitated, for its childlike simplicity and frankness.^[4] Paintings of this kind typically have a flat rendering style with a rudimentary expression of perspective.^[5]

One particularly influential painter of "naïve art" was Henri Rousseau (1844–1910), a French Post-Impressionist who was discovered by Pablo Picasso.

Characteristics

Naïve art^[6] is often seen as outsider art that is by someone without formal (or little) training or degree. While this was true before the twentieth century, there are now academies for naïve art. Naïve art is now a fully recognized art genre, represented in art galleries worldwide.

The characteristics of naïve art are an awkward relationship to the formal qualities of painting, especially not respecting the three rules of the perspective (such as defined by the Progressive Painters of the Renaissance):

1. Decrease of the size of objects proportionally with distance,


2. Muting of colors with distance,


3. Decrease of the precision of details with distance,

The results are:

1. Effects of perspective geometrically erroneous (awkward aspect of the works, children's drawings look, or medieval painting look, but the comparison stops there)


2. Strong use of pattern, unrefined color on all the plans of the composition, without enfeeblement in the background,


3. An equal accuracy brought to details, including those of the background which should be shaded off.

Simplicity rather than subtlety are all supposed markers of naïve art. It has, however, become such a popular and recognizable style that many examples could be called pseudo-naïve.

Whereas naïve art ideally describes the work of an artist who did not receive formal education in an art school or academy, for example Henri Rousseau or Alfred Wallis, 'pseudo naïve' or 'faux naïve' art describes the work of an artist working in a more imitative or self-conscious mode and whose work can be seen as more imitative than original.

Strict naïvety is unlikely to be found in contemporary artists, given the expansion of Autodidactism as a form of education in modern times. Naïve categorizations are not always welcome by living artists,^[7][8] but this is likely to change as dignifying signals are known. Museums devoted to naïve art now exist in Kecskemét, Hungary; Riga, Latvia; Jaen, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Vicq France and Paris. Examples of English-speaking living artists who acknowledge their naïve style are: Gary Bunt,^[9] Lyle Carbajal,^[10]Jonathan Kis-Lev, Gabe Langholtz,^[11] Gigi Mills,^[12] Barbara Olsen,^[13] Paine Proffitt,^[14] and Alain Thomas.^[15]

"Primitive art" is another term often applied to art by those without formal training, but is historically more often applied to work from certain cultures that have been judged socially or technologically "primitive" by Western academia, such as Native American, subsaharan African or Pacific Island art (see Tribal art). This is distinguished from the self-conscious, "primitive" inspired movement primitivism. Another term related to (but not completely synonymous with) naïve art is folk art.

There also exist the terms "naïvism" and "primitivism" which are usually applied to professional painters working in the style of naïve art (like Paul Gauguin, Mikhail Larionov, Paul Klee).^[16]

Movements

Nobody knows exactly when the first naive artists appeared on the scene, as from the very first manifestations of art right up to the days of the "Modern Classic", naive artists quite unconsciously bequeathed us unmistakable signs of their creative activity. At all events, naive art can be regarded as having occupied an "official" position in the annals of twentieth-century art since - at the very latest - the publication of the Der Blaue Reiter, an almanac in 1912. Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, who brought out the almanac, presented 6 reproductions of paintings by le Douanier' Rousseau (Henri Rousseau), comparing them with other pictorial examples. However, most experts agree that the year that naive art was "discovered" was 1885, when the painter Paul Signac became aware of the talents of Henri Rousseau and set about organizing exhibitions of his work in a number of prestigious galleries.^[17]

Earth Group

The Earth Group (Grupa Zemlja) were Croatian artists, architects and intellectuals active in Zagreb from 1929 to 1935. The group was Marxist in orientation and was partly modelled on "Neue Sachlichkeit",^[18] leading to more stylized forms, and the emergence of Naive painting. The group included the painters Krsto Hegedušić, Edo Kovačević, Omer Mujadžić, Kamilo Ružička, Ivan Tabaković, and Oton Postružnik, the sculptors Antun Augustinčić, Frano Kršinić, and the architect Drago Ibler. The Earth group searched for answers to social issues. Their program emphasised the importance of independent creative expression, and opposed the uncritical copying of foreign styles. Rather than producing art for art's sake, they felt it ought to reflect the reality of life and the needs of the modern community. Activities at the group's exhibitions were increasingly provocative to the government of the day, and in 1935 the group was banned.^[19]

Hlebine School

A term applied to Croatian naive painters working in or around the village of Hlebine, near the Hungarian border, from about 1930. At this time, according to the World Encyclopedia of Naive Art (1984), the village amounted to little more than ‘a few muddy winding streets and one-storey houses’, but it produced such a remarkable crop of artists that it became virtually synonymous with Yugoslav naive painting.^[20]

Hlebine is a small picturesque municipality in the North of Croatia that in 1920s became a setting against which a group of self-taught peasants began to develop a unique and somewhat revolutionary style of painting. This was instigated by leading intellectuals of the time such as the poet Antun Gustav Matoš and the biggest name in Croatian literature, Miroslav Krleža, who called for an individual national artistic style that would be independent from Western influences. These ideas were picked up by a celebrated artist from Hlebine – Krsto Hegedušić and he went on to found the Hlebine School of Art in 1930 in search of national “rural artistic expression”.^[21]

Ivan Generalić was the first master of the Hlebine School, and the first to develop a distinctive personal style, achieving a high standard in his art.^[22]

After the Second World War, the next generation of Hlebine painters tended to focus more on stylized depictions of country life taken from imagination. Generalić continued to be the dominant figure, and encouraged younger artists, including his son Josip Generalić.

The Hlebine school became a worldwide phenomenon with the 1952 Venice Biennale and exhibitions in Brazil and Brussels.^[23]

Some of the best known naive artists are Dragan Gaži, Ivan Generalić, Josip Generalić, Krsto Hegedušić, Mijo Kovačić, Ivan Lacković-Croata, Franjo Mraz, Ivan Večenaj and Mirko Virius.

Artists

18th century

An example of Janko Brašić's work. Kosovski Boj (the Battle of Kosovo)

• 
  Oluf Braren (1787–1839)


• 
  Justus DaLee (1793–1878)


• 
  Edward Hicks (1780–1849)


• 
  Joshua Johnson (1763-1824)

19th century

• 
  James Bard (1815–1897)^[24]


• 
  Ilija Bašičević (1895–1972)


• 
  André Bauchant (1873–1958)


• 
  Camille Bombois (1883–1970)


• 
  Ferdinand Cheval, known as 'le facteur Cheval' (1836–1924)


• 
  Denys Corbet (1826–1910)


• 
  Henry Darger (1892–1973)


• 
  Theora Hamblett (1895–1977)


• 
  Mary Jewels (1886-1977)


• 
  John Kane (1860–1934)


• 
  Arnold Kramer (1882–1976)


• 
  Olof Krans (1838-1916)


• 
  Antonio Ligabue (1899–1965)


• 
  Cándido López (1840–1902)


• 
  Séraphine Louis, known as 'Séraphine de Senlis' (1864–1942)


• 
  L. S. Lowry (1887–1976)


• 
  Grandma Moses, Anna Mary Robertson (1860–1961)


• 
  Nikifor (1895–1968) Poland


• 
  Teofil Ociepka (1891–1978) Poland


• 
  Horace Pippin (1888–1946)


• 
  Niko Pirosmani (1862–1918)


• 
  Peter Rindisbacher (1806–1834) American, b. Switzerland


• 
  Bárbaro Rivas (1893–1967) Venezuela


• 
  Henri Rousseau (1844–1910) France


• 
  Jon Serl (1894-1993) United States


• 
  Matija Skurjeni (1898–1990) Croatia


• 
  Henry Stockley (1892–1982), Great Britain


• 
  Lavoslav Torti (1875–1942) Croatia


• 
  Mirko Virius (1889–1943) Croatia


• 
  Miguel García Vivancos (1895–1972)


• 
  Louis Vivin (1861–1936)


• 
  Alfred Wallis (1855–1942)


• 
  Scottie Wilson (1890–1972)


• 
  Ellinor Aiki (1893-1969)

20th century

The Domino Players (Juego de Domino), Oil on canvas, by Cuban artist José Rodríguez Fuster.

• 
  Gesner Abelard (b. 1922)


• 
  Andreas Alariesto (1900-1989) Finland


• 
  Alyona Azernaya (b. 1966) Russia


• 
  Jan Bacur (b. 1937) Serbia


• 
  Jan Balet (1913–2009)


• 
  Nina Barka (Marie Smirsky) (1908–1986)


• 
  Kateryna Bilokur (1900-1961) Ukraine


• 
  Janko Brašić (1906–1994)


• 
  Frédéric Bruly Bouabré (b. 1923)


• 
  Eugen Buktenica (1914–1997) Croatia


• 
  Zuzana Chalupová (1925–2001) Kovačica (Vojvodina) Serbia


• 
  Paulina Constancia (b. 1970) Philippines


• 
  Michel Delacroix (b. 1933) France


• 
  Préfète Duffaut (b. 1923)


• 
  Emerik Feješ (1904–1969) Croatia


• 
  Howard Finster (1916–2001)


• 
  Robert-Émile Fortin (1945–2004) Canada


• 
  George Fredericks (b. 1929)


• 
  José Rodríguez Fuster (b. 1946) Cuba


• 
  Dragan Gaži (1930-1983) Croatia


• 
  Ivan Generalić (1914–1992) Hlebine, Croatia


• 
  Josip Generalić (1935–2004) Hlebine, Croatia


• 
  Mokarrameh Ghanbari (1928–2005) Iran


• 
  Petronėlė Gerlikienė (1905–1979)


• 
  Petar Grgec (1933–2006) Croatia


• 
  Krsto Hegedušić (1901–1975) Croatia


• 
  Věra Hendrychová (1920 - 1981) Czech Republic


• 
  Jan Husarik (b. 1942) Padina, Serbia


• 
  Daniel Johnston (b. 1961) Austin, Texas
  


• 
  Drago Jurak (1911–1994) Croatia


• 
  Bob Justin (b. 1941)


• 
  Ferenc Kalmar (b. 1928)


• 
  Mijo Kovačić (1935– ) Croatia


• 
  Siegfried L. Kratochwil (1916–2005) Austria


• 
  Ivan Lacković Croata (1932–2004) Croatia


• 
  Pavel Leonov (1920–2011) Russia


• 
  Maud Lewis (1903- 1970) Canada


• 
  Manuel Lepe Macedo (1936–1984)


• 
  Ferreira Louis Marius (b. 1953)


• 
  Katya Medvedeva (born 1937) Russia


• 
  Martin Mehkek (1936-2014) Croatia


• 
  Manuel Mendive (b. 1944) Cuba


• 
  Dobrosav Milojevic (b. 1948) Serbia^[25]


• 
  Ethel Wright Mohamed (1906-1992) American


• 
  Franjo Mraz (1910–1981) Hlebine, Croatia


• 
  Navitrolla (b. 1970) Estonia


• 
  Radi Nedelchev (b. 1938)


• 
  Norman Neasom (1915–2010)


• 
  Mary Nohl (1914–2001) Fox Point, Wisconsin
  


• 
  Derold Page (b. 1947)


• 
  Stan Ioan Pătraş (1908–1977) Romania


• 
  Bryan Pearce (1929–2007)


• 
  Mario Perez (b. 1943)


• 
  Nan Phelps (1904–1990) American


• 
  Maria Pryimachenko (1908–1997) Ukraine


• 
  Oles Semernya (1936–2012) Ukraine


• 
  Polina Raiko (1927–2004) Ukraine


• 
  Alevtina Pyzhova (born 1936) Russia


• 
  Ivan Rabuzin (1921–2008) Croatia


• 
  Markey Robinson (1918–1999) Ireland


• 
  Konstantin Rodko (1908–1995)


• 
  Vasily Romanenkov (1953–2013) Russia


• 
  Heinz Seelig (1909–1992) Israel


• 
  Yeshayahu Sheinfeld (1909-1979) Israel^[26]


• 
  Mary Michael Shelley (b. 1950)


• 
  Chris (Simpsons artist) (b. 1983) England


• 
  Petar Smajić (1910–1985) Croatia


• 
  Peter Smith (b. 1967)


• 
  Slavko Stolnik (1929–1991) Croatia


• 
  Bunleua Sulilat (1932–1996)


• 
  Dragiša Stanisavljević (b. 1921)


• 
  Chaibia Talal (1929–2004)


• 
  Bracha Turner (b. 1922)


• 
  Claudia Vecchiarelli (1978–2009) Italy


• 
  Ivan Večenaj (1920–2013) Croatia


• 
  Guido Vedovato (b. 1961) Italy


• 
  Arthur Villeneuve (1910–1990)


• 
  Elena Volkova (1915–2013)


• 
  Sergey Zagraevsky (b. 1964) Russia


• 
  Raphael Perez (b. 1965) Israel


• 
  Fred Yates (1922–2008)

Museums and galleries

An anonymous painter from Pernambuco, Brazil: Landscape.

An anonymous painter from Kharkiv: Papa Gueye.

Belgium

• 
  Spontaneous Art Museum in Brussels
  


• 
  Art en Marge Museum in Brussels
  


• 
  MADmusée in Liege
  

Brazil

• 
  International Museum of Naive Art of Brazil in Cosme Velho, Rio de Janeiro
  


• 
  Gallery Jacques Ardies in São Paulo
  

Canada

• 
  Musée international d'art naïf de Magog in Magog
  

Croatia

• 
  Croatian Museum of Naïve Art in Zagreb^[27]


• 
  Gallery of Croatian Naïve Art in Zagreb^[28]


• 
  Croatian Naive Art Museum in Hlebine
  

Estonia

• 
  Kondas Centre of Naive Art in Viljandi
  

Finland

• 
  Naivistit Iittalassa in Iittala
  

France

• 
  Musée international d'Art naïf Anatole Jakovsky in Nice^[29]


• 
  Musée d'Art Naïf - Max Fourny in Paris
  


• 
  International Museum of Naive Art in Vicq (near Versailles)^[30]


• 
  Museum of Naive Art in Beraut (near Toulouse)

Germany

• 
  Museum Charlotte Zander in Bönnigheim
  


• 
  Gesellschaft für Naive Kunst in Hannover
  

Hungary

• Museum of Hungarian Naive Artists in Kecskemét^[31]

Israel

• 
  Gallery of International Naïve Art (GINA) in Tel Aviv
  

Latvia

• 
  Naive Art Museum of Latvia in Rīga
  

Nicaragua

• 
  Arte Primitivista de Nicaragua in Managua
  

Philippines

• 
  Paulina Constancia Museum of Naïve Art (MONA) in Cebu
  

Portugal

• Museu De Arte Primitiva Moderna in Guimarães
  

Russia

• 
  Naive Art Museum in Moscow
  


• Collection of naïve and outsider art of Dr. X. Boguemskaia and A.Turchin

Serbia

• 
  Museum of Naïve and Marginal Art in Jagodina
  


• 
  Gallery of Naive Art in Kovačica
  

Slovenia

• 
  Gallery of Naive Artists Trebnje in Trebnje
  

Spain

• Manuel Moral International Museum of Naïve Art in Jaén^[32]

USA

• Anthony Petullo Collection of Self-Taught & Outsider Art


• American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD

Associations

• Folk Art Society of America


• ABNA - British Naive Art Association


• Israel Naive art Association


• Nederland Naive Art Association


• Naive Art Association of Denmark


• France Naive Art Group

See also

• Anatole Jakovsky


• Chicago Imagists


• Neo-primitivism


• Outsider art


• Primitivism

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Naïve art.

• Walker, John. "Naive Art". Glossary of Art, Architecture & Design since 1945, 3rd. ed. (archived link, April 11, 2012)


• 
  Bihalji-Merin, Oto (1959). Modern Primitives: Masters of Naive Painting. trans. Norbert Guterman. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
  


• 
  Fine, Gary Alan (2004). Everyday genius: self-taught art and the culture of authenticity. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-24950-6.