The Fantastic Naïfs—Insiders and Outsiders

Two naive paintings (Left - by Henri Rousseau and Right - by Grandma Moses) that will be discussed in class (click photo for larger image)Jill Kiefer will be devoting one online class to Naïve and Outsider artists. You can also read about these wonderful genres here on What About Art?

Naïve artists (also called Naïfs) include individuals in civilized societies who lack or reject conventional expertise in the representation or depiction of real objects. These artists, such as Henri Rousseau and Grandma Moses, pursue their art with the same commitment as formally trained individuals.  Outsider Art (also known as Brut Art) generally refers to works produced by individuals living on the fringes or outside of mainstream societies, such as prisoners, patients institutionalized for mental illness, and homeless people. Henry Darger and Paul Edlin fall into this category, along with some trained artists who have chosen to associate with the group. In this program, we’ll track the evolution of these pathways to making art, with special emphasis placed on the artists’ motivations—and the influences of their art on the broader culture.

Friday, 19 June - 3:00pm – 4:00pm Eastern (New York Time)

Click HERE to Register. Class sizes are limited to don’t wait!

Art of the Fantastic

Henri Rousseau - The Snake Charmer - 1907 - Oil on canvas - 169 x 189.5 cm - Musee d'Orsay, Paris (click photo for larger image)Between the two World Wars, painting lost some of the raw, modern energy that had characterized it at the beginning of the century. Instead, art was dominated by two rather philosophical movements, Dada and Surrealism—both of which have been treated on What About Art?. This development arose partly as a reaction to the senseless atrocities of World War I. Artists were also becoming introspective, concerned with their own subconscious dreams. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytical theories were well known by this time, and painters explored their own irrationalities and fantasies in search of a new artistic freedom. But such art—an art of the fantastic—was practiced uninterrupted by artists from the Middle Ages forward—Hieronymus Bosch, Caspar David Friedrich, Francisco de Goya, and Gustave Moreau among them. A noteworthy practitioner of an art of the fantastic from the Modern era was the celebrated naive painter, Henri Rousseau (1844-1910). Known as Le Douanier, after a lifelong job in the Parisian customs office, Rousseau is a perfect example of the kind of artist in whom the artists of the day believed: the untaught genius whose eye could see much further than that of the trained artist. The term “art of the fantastic” quite aptly describes the oeuvre of this painter.

Self-Taught Artist Turns Dead Trees into Urban Artworks

Wooden sculptures by Igor Dzheknavarov

“During the last six years the Ukrainian city of Simferopol has been transformed into an urban art gallery by a mysterious artist who carves wooden statues out of dead tree trunks.”

READ MORE...

Horace Pippin (1888-1946)

Horace Pippin, Christmas Morning Breakfast, 1945Horace Pippin in 1940Horace Pippin was an American naive painter, known for his depictions of African American life and the horrors of war. Pippin’s childhood was spent in Goshen, New York, a town that sometimes appears in his paintings. Pippin was wounded in WWI, and was discharged with a partially paralyzed right arm. He settled in Pennsylvania--and was “discovered” by the art world in 1937. Pippin’s later works are precise and boldly colored. He’s an excellent example of genre painting at its best--which refers to paintings that depict everyday people doing everyday things. Read more about Horace Pippin at the NGA Classroom for Student and Teachers.

Beauty and the Beast?

Breton Brother and Sister, 1871 - Adolphe-William Bouguereau - Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York (USA)William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) was a French painter, dominant in the academic painting tradition during the second half of the 19th century. He was honored for his mythological and allegorical paintings, and his portraits. The achievements of this artistic genius were long ignored by scholars--overshadowed by the study of the avant-garde movements of the same period, which led to Modern Art.

Henri Rousseau - 1891 National Gallery - London (England) Painting - oil on canvas

On the other side of the technical wizardry of Bouguereau was Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) the French painter who is considered the archetype of the modern naive painter (although he was by no means the first naive artist). Rousseau is known for his richly colored and painstakingly detailed pictures of lush jungles, wild beasts, exotic figures--as well as landscapes and portraits. These two artists were working at the same time in Paris. Bouguereau had the far greater success at the time--since the art world of the day only allowed for one type of art--one set of standards. Thankfully, we live at a time when all styles of and approaches to art can peacefully co-exist--and be celebrated.