EMIL PAVELESCU, ROMANIAN PAINTER, HE WON MOST GOLD MEDALS IN EUROPEAN NAIVE ART
NAIVE ART IS USUALLY DEFINED AS VISUAL ART THAT IS CREATED BY A PERSON WHO LACKS THE FORMAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING THAT A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST UNDERGOES.
NAIVE ART MEANS THE CAPACITY TO EXPRESS IN PAINTINGS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE INNOCENCE OF SINCERITY, SPONTANEITY, INVENTIVENESS, ALSO UNDISGUISED CURIOSITY.
NAIVE ART IS A TERM USUALLY USED FOR THE FORMS OF FINE ART, SUCH AS PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES, MADE BY A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST, WHILE OBJECTS WITH A PRACTICAL USE COME UNDER FOLK ART.
UNLIKE FOLK ART, NAIVE ART DOES NOT NECESSARILY DERIVE FROM A DISTINCT POPULAR CULTURAL CONTEXT OR TRADITION.
NAIVE ART IS RECOGNIZED, AND OFTEN IMITATED, FOR ITS CHILDLIKE SIMPLICITY AND FRANKNESS.
THE NAIVE ART DOES NOT RESPECT THE THREE RULES OF THE PERSPECTIVE, DEFINED BY THE PROGRESSIVE PAINTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE:
DECREASE OF THE SIZE OF OBJECTS PROPORTIONALLY WITH THE DISTANCE, MUTING OF COLOURS PROPORTIONALLY WITH THE DISTANCE, DECREASE OF THE PRECISION OF DETAILS PROPORTIONALLY WITH THE DISTANCE.
THE EFFECTS ARE:
-GEOMETRIC ERRORS - AWKWARD ASPECT OF WORKS, CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS LOOK, OR MEDIEVAL PAINTING LOOK;
-STRONG USE OF PATTERN, UNREFINED COLOR ON ALL THE PLANS OF THE COMPOSITION, WITHOUT ENFEEBLEMENT IN THE BACKGROUND;
-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 NAIVE ART.
GERMAN ART COLLECTOR AND CRITIC WILHELM UHDE IS KNOWN AS THE PRINCIPAL ORGANIZER OF THE FIRST NAIVE ART EXHIBITION, WHICH TOOK PLACE IN PARIS IN 1928. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE HENRI ROUSSEAU, ANDRE BAUCHANT, CAMILLE BOMBOIS, SERAPHINE LOUIS, ALSO LOUIS VIVIN, KNOWN COLLECTIVELY AS THE SACRED HEART PAINTERS.
IN NUMEROUS PANORAMAS OF HISTORY OF MODERN ART, THE CLASSICS OF NAIVE PAINTING ARE MENTIONED AMONG THE "INGENUOUS AND PRIMITIVE ARTISTS".
THE EXOTISM, THE BLACKNESS, THE ARCHAISM OF THESE NEW HORIZONS "PRIMITIVES" OF ART FASCINATED THE ARTISTS FROM ALL CORNERS OF EUROPE:
-FROM PICASSO - PABLO PICASSO (1881 - 1973, A SPANISH EXPATRIATE PAINTER, SCULPTOR, PRINTMAKER, CERAMICIST AND STAGE DESIGNER, ONE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST-INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND THE CREATOR OF CUBISM),
-TO LEGER - JOSEPH FERNAND HENRI LEGER (1881 - 1955, A FRENCH PAINTER, SCULPTOR, ALSO FILMMAKER, WHO, IN HIS EARLY WORKS, CREATED A PERSONAL FORM OF CUBISM, KNOWN AS "TUBISM" - A TERM CREATED BY THE ART CRITIC LOUIS VAUXCELLES, IN 1911, TO DESCRIBE THE STYLE OF FRENCH ARTIST FERNAND LEGER, WHICH HE GRADUALLY MODIFIED INTO A MORE FIGURATIVE, POPULIST STYLE),
-FROM LIPSCHITZ - JACQUES LIPCHITZ (1891 - 1973, A LITHUANIAN-BORN FRENCH-AMERICAN CUBIST SCULPTOR; LIPCHITZ RETAINED HIGHLY FIGURATIVE AND LEGIBLE COMPONENTS, IN HIS WORK, LEADING UP TO 1915-1916, AFTER WHICH NATURALIST AND DESCRIPTIVE ELEMENTS WERE MUTED, DOMINATED BY A SYNTHETIC STYLE OF CRYSTAL CUBISM),
-TO LAURENS - SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE (1769 - 1830, AN ENGLISH PORTRAIT PAINTER AND THE FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY, AT 18, HE WENT TO LONDON AND SOON ESTABLISHED HIS REPUTATION AS A PORTRAIT PAINTER IN OILS, RECEIVING HIS FIRST ROYAL COMMISSION, A PORTRAIT OF QUEEN CHARLOTTE, IN 1789),
-FROM BARLACH - ERNST HEINRICH BARLACH (1870 - 1938, A GERMAN EXPRESSIONIST SCULPTOR, MEDALLIST, PRINTMAKER AND WRITER - REALISM AND EXPRESSIONISM),
-TO MARTINI - SIMONE MARTINI (1284 - 1344, AN ITALIAN PAINTER BORN IN SIENA, A MAJOR FIGURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY ITALIAN PAINTING AND GREATLY INFLUENCED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC STYLE),
- OR ALBERTO MARTINI (1876 - 1954, AN ITALIAN PAINTER, ENGRAVER, ILLUSTRATOR AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER; RANGE OF WORK FROM "ELEGANT AND EPIC" TO "GROTESQUE AND MACABRE", ALSO CONSIDERED THE PRECURSORS OF SURREALISM),
- FROM MODIGLIANI - AMEDEO MODIGLIANI (1884 - 1920, AN ITALIAN PAINTER AND SCULPTOR BASED IN FRANCE, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE "PARISIAN SCHOOL" - "ECOLE DE PARIS", HIGHLIGHTED IN HIS SHORT LIFE THROUGH A CREATION FULL OF ELEGANCE AND REFINEMENT, WHICH GOES BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF MANNERISM),
- TO CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI (1876 - 1957, A GENIAL ROMANIAN SCULPTOR, PAINTER, ALSO PHOTOGRAPHER, WHO MADE HIS CAREER IN FRANCE, BEING CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL SCULPTORS OF THE 20TH CENTURY AND A PIONEER OF MODERNISM, BEING CALLED THE PATRIARCH OF MODERN SCULPTURE).
PRIMITIVE ART DEVELOPED THEREFORE AN INSTINCTUAL LANGUAGE OF FORMS, REPRESENTING A RITUAL PRACTICE AND NOT AN AESTHETIC ONE.
IN PRIMITIVE ART THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SIGNIFIED AND THE SIGNIFIER IS MAXIMUM, THE SIGN BEING PLACED AS FAR AS POSSIBLE FROM ITS MEANING.
IN NAIVE ART, THE IMAGE IS CLOSE TAUTOLOGICAL, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE SIGNIFIED AND THE SIGNIFIER BEING MINIMAL, AS SUCH THE LOAD AND HER COGNITIVE TENSION.
IT HAS OFTEN BEEN SAID THAT NAIVE ART GIVES US BACK THE CHILD IN US, THAT SHE FILTERS THE WORLD THROUGH THE QUESTIONING CANDOUR IN HIS EYES.
BEING THE IMMEDIATE AND SPONTANEOUS EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONAL EXPLOSIONS, OF OBSESSIONS, OF ANGUISH AND OF STRICTLY INDIVIDUAL VISIONS, THE NAIVE ART CAN BE ALSO THE LANGUAGE THROUGH WHICH THE PERSONS WITH MENTAL OR MENTAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS TRY TO COMMUNICATE WITH US.
ALSO, PROJECTING HIS HALLUCINATIONS AND NIGHTMARES IN PLASTIC IMAGES, THE PERSON WITH MENTAL PROBLEMS CAN CREATE, IN HIS SERENE AND HARMONIOUS PAINTINGS, A WORLD IN WHICH THEY WOULD LIKE TO ESCAPE, WHICH EXPRESSES THEM ASPIRATIONS AND IDEALS.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST AND A NON-PROFESSIONAL IS USUALLY SEEN IN THE FACT THAT, WHILE THE FIRST IS "EDUCATED" AND EARNS HIS LIVING THROUGH HIS ARTISTIC ACTIVITY, WHICH BECAME A "PROFESSION", THE SECOND IS SELF-TAUGHT AND PRACTICES ART IN HIS FREE TIME, THAT IS, HAVING ANOTHER "JOB OF THE BASE".
BUT WHEN THE DISTINCTION GOES BEYOND THE LEVEL OF STATUS SOCIAL IN THE AESTHETIC, THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN NAIVE ART AND THAT PROFESSIONAL BECOME PERMEABLE.
THE NAIVE PAINTER IS NOT AN ECCENTRIC.
THE "CLASSICS" LIKE HENRI ROUSSEAU, ANDRE BAUCHANT, RENE RIMBERT, IVAN RABUZIN, MILASOV JOVANOVIC, NATALIE SCHMIDTOVA, SHALOM OF SAFED, PATRIK J. SULLIVAN, ALEXANDRU SAVU RESORTED TO THE FORCE OF INTUITIVE PERSONIFICATION OF METAPHORICAL FORMS.
THE NAIVE ARTISTS HAVE NOT USED THE ALLEGORY TO PERSONIFY ABSTRACT NOTIONS (VIRTUE, JUSTICE, HOPE), LIKE IN CULTURED ART, BUT ESPECIALLY TOWARDS A CONFER A METAPHORICAL VALUE AND, THUS, A GREATER GENERALIZING FORCE, TO SIGNIFICANT EVENTS (THE LIFE).
AN EXAMPLE IS PRESENTED BY HENRI ROUSSEAU, IN `LE DOUANIER`/THE CUSTOMS OFFICER, WHICH CONSTITUTES THE SUBJECT OF NUMEROUS ALLEGORIES, REVELATIONS OR EXISTENTIAL STATES, TO WHICH IT GIVES A UNIVERSAL MEANING (PREMONITION OF DEATH, INTUITION OF INFINITY, LONELINESS PRESSURE, THE ANXIOUS WAITING AS AN INEXPLICABLE PRESENTIMENT), FEELING WHICH IT DOES NOT ENCRYPT IN THE FORM OF A PARABLE, AS A CLOSED ALLEGORY, BUT GIVES TO THEM THE RIDDLE SIGNIFICATION.
NAIVE ARTISTS' VISIONS ARE BORN FROM THE SAME SPIRITUAL SOURCE OF A FANTASTIC OR SURREAL DREAM.
IT IS THE FABULOUS WORLD OF THE FAIRY TALE EXPERIENCED AS REALITY, OF THE DREAM CROSSED WITH OPEN EYES, BLUE BUTTERFLIES WITH WINGS; FABULOUS FISH WITH THE SIZE OF A ZEPPELIN, FLOATING IN AIR WITH MASSIVE IMMOBILITY; HORSES FLYING OVER THE CRATER GENTLE OF A VOLCANO, MORE FLORAL THAN MINERAL; UNICORNS GRAZING MYSTERIOUSLY SPRING FLOWERS IN THE MIDDLE SNOW; HUGE FLOWERS HUGGING THE EARTH.
THE PAINTINGS OF THE NAIVE ARTISTS ARE SOME LITERARY DESCRIPTIONS, TRANSLATED INTO PLASTIC LANGUAGE, BECAUSE THEY ARE PASSIONATE STORYTELLERS AND THEIR VOCATION IS EPICAL (FOR EXAMPLE, THE LACK OF PLASTIC CORPOREALITY AND THE ILLUSION OF SPACE, NEGLECTING GEOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE OR REAL ANATOMICAL PROPORTIONS).
THE NAIVE ARTIST REFUSES THE INSTRUCTION, BECAUSE HE SEES IN IT A COMPROMISE WHICH CAN AFFECT HIS INTUITIVE PERCEPTION.
THE ARTISTIC IMAGE IS A SUBJECTIVE EQUIVALENT OF THE OBJECT PROPERTIES, EQUIVALENCE ACHIEVED WITH EQUIVOCAL MEANS, BUT INFLUENCED OF EVENT ECHO OR OF THE OBJECT, WHICH IS "REPRODUCED" IN THE SENSIBILITY OF THE ARTIST.
NAIVE ART REMAINS, AS ANY OTHER FORM OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION, A FORM OF REALITY RECONSTRUCTION, IN A CONTEXT GOVERNED BY OWN ORDERING AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA, AND THE FREEDOM APPEARS FROM THIS CAPACITY OF SPECIFIC ARTISTIC CREATION.
BUT THEIR LACK OF EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS LEADS THEM TO DIFFERENT RESULTS.
THE EFFECT WILL BE A VISION, A PERSPECTIVE, A DRAW, ALSO A CHARMING COLOR PALETTE SPECIAL, WITH OBVIOUS ARTISTIC QUALITIES, BUT WHICH MEET OTHER CRITERIA.
FOR THE NAIVE ARTIST, THE OPERA CONSTITUTES THE FAITHFUL IMAGE OF REALITY AND THROUGH THIS ACT RESPONDS TO ITS INTENTION OF TRUTH, IN TIME WHAT FOR US IT IS THE POETIC EXPRESSION OF REALITY.
BEING SELF-TAUGHT, BUT AN AUTODIDACT WHO LEARNS ONLY FROM HIMSELF, FROM HIS OWN EXPERIENCE, HIS FORMATIVE INSTINCT IT IS NOT LIMITED AND OPPRESSED BY ANY DOGMA SCHOOLS THAT COULD PROVIDE HIM WITH SAFE, LONG-USED RECIPES.
IN NAIVE ART, THE ARTIST CHOOSES THE FORM FOR ITS MEANING, AND NOT FOR HER HISTORICAL ARTISTIC SIGNIFICATION.
BECAUSE, BEING PERFECTIBLE, THE CREATION OF ANY BRAND ARTIST, FROM GIOTTO DI BONDONE AND MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI TO PABLO PICASSO OR CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI, GOES THROUGH PHASES AND STAGES, SOMETIMES VERY DIFFERENT BETWEEN THEM.
THUS, WE CANNOT SPEAK ABOUT ONE GLOBAL STYLE OF PICASSO'S WORKS, BUT ABOUT BLUE OR PINK CUBIST STYLE PERIODS.
WITH DEFINING VALUE, WE CAN MENTION THE GREAT CAPACITY OF THE NAIVE ARTIST OF RENEWING SYMBOLS, SUGGESTIVE METAPHORS, OR ALLEGORIES, THROUGH WHICH THE GREAT AND SIMPLE EXISTENTIAL TRUTHS, ALSO TRIVIAL FEELINGS, ARE RECALLED, BUT, AT THE SAME TIME, THE INTUITIVE FORMS THROUGH WHICH THEY REACH TO SURFACE.
IT DESERVES TO BE MENTIONED THE ORIGINALITY OF THE VISION THAT CHARACTERIZES THE NAIVE PAINTING' IMAGISTIC REPERTOIRE.
IT ALWAYS GENERATES NEW FORMS OF SUBJECTIVE REALISM.
THROUGH A SPECIAL INSTINCT FOR EXPRESSIVE FORMS, NAIVE ARTISTS GO BEYOND BY THE PHYSICS LAWS AND CHANGES THE OBJECTS PROPORTIONS.
THE MOST THINGS OR IMPORTANT DETAILS ARE OVERSIZED AND EMPHASIZED EXPRESSIVELY.
NAIVE ART CAN BE CHARACTERIZED THROUGH CHROMATIC VITALITY, HER INEXHAUSTIBLE INVENTIVENESS, THROUGH HAPPY GRADATIONS AND COLOR TONES.
LIKE THE PRIMITIVES, THE NAIVE ARTISTS ARE, BY INSTINCT, SOME GREAT COLORISTS, EXPRESSING THE VOCATION FOR THE FABULOUS.
HOMOGENEITY AND UNITY OF VISION IS ANOTHER INTRINSICALLY AESTHETIC QUALITY, IDENTIFIABLE IN MANY OF NAIVE WORKS.
THE FIRST WAY OF NAIVE ART FALSITY IS WHEN THERE IS NO LONGER A SPONTANEOUS REACTION, BUT A DELIBERATE TECHNICAL PROCEDURE, A REPEATED ROUTINE, ACCORDING TO STENCILED PATTERNS.
THE SECOND WAY TO FAKE NAIVE ART IS THE IMITATION BY PROFESSIONALS, THE PRODUCTION OF AN EFFECT WITHOUT A CAUSE.
THE NAIVETY IS OF THE SOUL AND OF THE EYE, THERE IS INGENUITY FEELING AND NOT THE EMOTIONAL AWKWARDNESS.
THE RESULT WILL BE THEN NOT ONLY AN ARTISTIC FAKE, BUT ALSO A LIE IN TERMS OF HUMAN TRUTH OF THE WORK.
THEIR WORK IS, IN A WAY, THE RESULT OF SEDUCTION POWER AND THE IRRADIATION POWER OF NAIVE ART OVER MODERN ART.
THEY ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL PAINTERS EITHER, BUT, BENEFITING OF A HIGH CULTURAL LEVEL AND CERTAIN ENDOWMENTS, THEY HAVE ACHIEVED, AS AMATEURS, A SKILL, WHICH, TOGETHER WITH THEIR INTELLECTUAL HORIZON, WOULD NOT JUSTIFY THE RECOURSE TO THE MODES OF NAIVE ART EXPRESSION.
KEEPING, HOWEVER, AN UNALTERED SOUL AND A CHILD PERCEPTIVE FRESHNESS, THEY ENDURE THE NAIVE ART INFLUENCE, NATURALLY, FROM AN ASSUMED ORGANIC AFFINITY, CONSCIOUSLY, NOT FROM FASHION CONSIDERATIONS.
IT IS AMAZING HOW NAIVE ARTISTS, USUALLY HUMBLE PEOPLE, WHO HAVE KNOWN MATERIAL MISERY AND SOCIAL CONTEMPT, EXUDE SO MUCH LIGHT AND OPTIMISM, SO MUCH LOVE OF LIFE AND FRESHNESS OF FEELINGS.
TWO CURRENTS OF GENUINE HUMOR RUN THROUGH NAIVE ART: ONE SUPERFICIAL, KNOWING, DELIBERATE AND THE OTHER, INVOLUNTARY, DEEPER, ALSO MORE IMPERSONAL, BUT MORE GENERALIZED.
TO PRESERVE HIS INNOCENT LAUGHTER, THE NAIVE ARTIST ISOLATES HIMSELF IN HIS WONDERFUL UNIVERSE, UNTAINTED BY THE CIVILIZATION THAT WOULD DESTROY THIS VITAL VIRTUE.
FREQUENTLY ENCOUNTERED SITUATION CHOSEN FOR THE PORTRAITS AND SELF-PORTRAITS OF THE NAIVE, WHERE THE ATTITUDES, THE "LAYING OUT" OF FACES OR SILHOUETTES THEY ARE INSPIRED BY THE CULT ART, BUT THE WAYS OF REALIZATION - THE DRAWING, THE COLOR, THE EXPRESSION - THEY BELONG TO NAIVE ART.
AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCE OF UNINTENTIONAL COMEDY LIES IN THE ALMOST PERMANENT CONTRAST BETWEEN THE THEME AND ITS PLASTIC TREATMENT, WHEN THE NAIVE PAINTER WANTS TO TELL US EVERYDAY SCENES WITH RESOLUTION TRAGIC (ROAD OR WORK ACCIDENTS, DUELS, CATACLYSMS ETC.).
LIKE WHEN TO BE ABLE TO BEAR THE HORRORS OF LIFE, THE ABSURDITY AND HER INEQUITIES, THE CHILDISH SOUL OF THE NAIVE SHOULD FIRST TO MITIGATE THEM, TO PASS THEM THROUGH A FILTER COMIC, WHICH DEFUSES THE WARHEAD OF HORROR.
COMIC SURPRISE, THE UNEXPECTED AND THE UNUSUAL THAT MAKE THEIR WAY IN THE PLASTIC REPRESENTATIONS OF THE NAIVE ARTIST.
THE INVERSION OR THE HYPERTROPHY OF NATURAL PROPORTIONS AND DIMENSIONS OF THE OBJECTS AND BEINGS REPRESENTED, THE CANCELLATION OF SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES THAT WE KNEW IMPLACABLE (GRAVITY, THE OPACITY OF MOST MATERIALS) OR THE ASSERTION OF OTHER IMPOSSIBLES (UBIQUITY) THEY ARE USED, OF COURSE, NOT FOR THE PURPOSE TO AMUSE US, BUT TO BRING US CLOSER OF THE INTENTION AND THE TRUTH OF THE NAIVE ARTIST' VISION.
FOR NAIVE ART, DISSIMULATION, THE INAUTHENTIC ARE IN PRINCIPLE EXCLUDED BECAUSE HER SERENE, IDYLLIC VISION IS NOT PRESENTED TO US AS REALITY, BUT AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO IT.
IT IS NAIVE ARTISTS' REALITY AND IT IS MIRACULOUS THEIR LIFE.
IN THE CASE OF THE NAIVE ARTIST, THE REAL AND THE IDEAL OVERLAP.
IN SHORT, FROM A MORAL (AND MOTIVATIONAL) POINT OF VIEW, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAIVE ART AND KITSCH IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TRUTH AND LIES, BETWEEN AUTHENTICITY AND FAKE, BETWEEN SPONTANEITY AND DISSIMULATION.
FROM AN ONTOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, KITSCH IS A SURROGATE THAT, MASS PRODUCED, IS INTENDED TO REPLACE AND TO SUBSTITUTE AUTHENTIC ARTISTIC CREATION.
IF THE FUNDAMENTAL FEATURE OF NAIVE ART IS ORIGINALITY, ITS ABSOLUTE NOVELTY AND INDIVIDUALITY UNMISTAKABLE OF EACH WORK AND OF EACH ARTIST, KITSCH LIVES FROM COPIES, THROUGH TRANSFERENCE TO SPECIFIC THEMES, REASONS OR EVEN TOPICS FROM THE CONNOTATIVE OF SUBCULTURAL CONVENIENCES.
THE NAIVE ART DOESN'T DEGRADE AND DOESN'T DISTORT, LIKE THE KITSCH, PROCEDURES, ALSO THEMES OF CULT ART, BUT PRODUCES, CONSCIOUSLY OR NOT, EQUALLY VIABLE, ENRICHING ARTISTIC ALTERNATIVES AND DIVERSIFY THE REPERTOIRE OF PLASTIC EXPRESSION' MEANS.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM IS, IN THIS MEANING, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CREATION AND IMITATION, BETWEEN INSPIRATION AND MIMICRY.
THE TERRITORY OF KITSCH WORKS IS A DESOLATE LANDSCAPE THROUGH MONOTONY AND ANONYMITY.
THE KITSCH DOES NOT KNOW DISTINCT PERSONALITIES, STYLISTICALLY IDENTIFIABLE, THAT PERSONALITIES HAVE NO PERFORMANCES MEMORABLE AND RECOGNIZABLE.
THE MOTIVES MIGRATE WITH SMALL CHANGES FROM AUTHOR TO AUTHOR, PROCEDURES ARE MODELED, USED IMPERSONALLY AND CONFORMISTLY, INVENTION IS NOT DESIRED.
AND, UNDER THIS ASPECT, THE ORGANIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NAIVE ART AND KITSCH: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CREATION AND IMITATION, BETWEEN DISCOVERY AND REPRODUCTION, BETWEEN INSPIRATION AND MIMICRY.
IN A HIERARCHY OF VALUES, KITSCH PRESENTS ITSELF AS SPECIES OF MEDIOCRITY, PAR EXCELLENCE, CHARACTERIZED THROUGH BAD TASTE, THE MEDIOCRITY OF ASPIRATIONS, THE FLATNESS OF PLASTIC SOLUTIONS. ON THE CONTRARY, THE AESTHETIC TASTE OF THE NAIVE ARTIST HAS INHERITED SAFETY AND PURITY, MULTI-CENTURY PROPER TO FOLK ART; HIS ASPIRATIONS, EVEN IF THEY ARE THE COMMON MAN'S.
IN TERMS OF PROPER ACHIEVEMENT ARTISTIC, NAIVE ART ENDS UP IN PERMANENCE TO NOVEL PLASTIC SOLUTIONS, FULL OF O FORCE OF FRESH AND ORIGINAL EXPRESSION.
FROM AN AXIOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW, KITSCH IS SOMETIMES QUALIFIED AND AS "MISSED VALUE", AS "POWERLESSNESS OR DEFICIENCY OF CRAFT", AS "TECHNICAL INCAPACITY" AND "WEAKNESS ARTISTIC".
AS WHAT THEY LACK IS ARTISTIC DEPTH AND AUTHENTICITY.
THE TECHNIQUE OF THE NAIVE, ON THE OTHER HAND, LIKE THAT OF ANY AUTODIDACT, IS OFTEN IN CLUMSINESS, EXPRESSION OF AN INSUFFICIENT PLASTIC CULTURE, BUT IT DOES NOT DIM THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION, THE NOVELTY OF THE VISION AND THE DEPTH OF FEELINGS EXPRESSED THROUGH THE WORK.
THERE ARE, WITH OTHERS WORDS, A 'NAIVE PORTRAIT', AS THERE IS A CLASSICAL ONE, ROMANTIC, IMPRESSIONIST AND CUBIST, THE STRENGTHS OF THE "NAIVE PORTRAIT" ARE NOT PERFECT LIKENESS TO THE ORIGINAL, WHOSE ACHIEVEMENT BUT IT IS MORE ABOUT ARTISANAL VIRTUOSITY OF THE PAINTER - A FACT FOR WHICH THE PORTRAIT WAS RECOGNIZED RELATIVELY LATE AS AN AUTONOMOUS, EQUAL GENRE IMPORTANCE WITH OTHERS AND NEITHER PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS.
THE PRIMACY OF INTERPRETATION OVER IMITATION, IDEA THAT WILL GENERATE AND DOMINATE THE ENTIRE MODERN ART.
BUT SELF-DISCLOSURE IS A NATURAL PROCESS FOR THE NAIVE ARTIST, WHICH ENSURES AUTHENTICITY AND EMOTIONAL DEPTH OF ALL HIS ART.
THROUGH HIS PORTRAITS AND SELF-PORTRAITS, NAIVE ART DIFFERENTIATES ONCE MORE FROM PRIMITIVE ART AND FROM THE INFANTILE ONE.
PRIMITIVE ART DOES NOT KNOW THE INDIVIDUAL AS THE BEARER OF UNIQUE AND DISTINCT PROPERTIES.
THE ART OF EARLY AGES AND OF ALL PRIMITIVE CULTURES REFERS TO TYPE, SPECIES, GENUS.
SO, AS FAR AS THE NAIVE ARTIST IS CONCERNED, THE INTENTION OF A PORTRAIT EXISTS, AS DOES THE NECESSARY EXISTENTIAL ATTITUDE, OPENNESS TO OTHERS, THE INTENTION TO MAKES THE REPRODUCTION OF THEIR PERSONALITY - THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE PAINTING.
THEIR PORTRAITS MANAGE TO DEFINE ENOUGH THE MODEL OF THE PERSONALITY, THROUGH ITS PLACEMENT IN A MEANINGFUL CONTEXT.
THE MODEL IS NO LONGER DEPICTED ONLY IN THE EXERCISE OF ITS FUNCTIONS, BUT THROUGH THE AUXILIARY DIMENSION OF THE COMPOSITION, IN THE INTIMACY OF THE OBJECTS ARE REFLECTED HABITS, PASSIONS, HOBBIES.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE ENOUGH SELF-PORTRAITS OF THE NAIVE ARTIST, IN THE EXPRESSION PLASTICITY OF THE FIGURE, SUFFICIENT INTENDED FEATURES TO INDIVIDUALIZE AND EVEN DEFINE THE AUTHOR'S PERSONALITY.
THERE ARE EXPRESSED THE EMOTION OF COMMUNICATION, SINCERITY ATTITUDE AND THE WARMTH OF THE TRIBUTE INVOLVED BY THE ACT OF PORTRAYING.
BECAUSE, FOR THE NAIVE ARTIST, TO PAINT ONE'S FACE IS NOT TO REPRODUCE BUT TO CELEBRATE.
NOT JUST THE SIZE OF THE PERCEIVED VISIBLE, BUT AND THE CONCEPTUAL ONE, KNOWN, FINDS ITS EXPRESSION IN THEM.
THE GESTURE AND THE MOVEMENT ARE SUBSTITUTED FOR HIM BY THE CALMNESS OF TIMELESSNESS.
THE PORTRAITS OF THE NAIVE ARE PARTICULARLY EDIFYING, BECAUSE BY THEIR SIMPLICITY AND CLARITY, BY THEIR FRANKNESS, THEIR CHILDISHNESS MAKES IT MUCH EASIER FOR US DENSE IMAGE OF THE SUBJECT AND A GLIMPSE OF THE GIRL ITS HIDDEN.
WITHOUT COMPLEXES AND WITHOUT INHIBITIONS OF STYLISTIC PURITY, THE NAIVE PAINTER RESORTS, SUCCESSIVELY, COMBINING THEM, TO THE ATTITUDINAL SCHEMES OF MORE THAN ALL THE TRADITIONAL FORMULAS OF THE PORTRAIT:
FROM THE "MODERN" FORMULA OF THE STANDING PORTRAIT, WHICH GIVES UP THE PLACEMENT OF THE MODEL AS THE AXIS OF SYMMETRY OF THE PAINTING, PLACING IT ECCENTRICALLY (INNOVATION OF THE 18TH CENTURY), UP TO THE PORTRAIT OF DEVICE, THE "THREE-QUARTER" PORTRAIT OR THE PORTRAIT "BUST".
AND THE GOOD-HUMORED TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT ALTERNATES WITH REVERENT RETREAT OR WITH AURA SOLEMNITY, WHEN THE PORTRAIT IS INTENDED AS A TRIBUTE.
THE FASCINATING BEAUTY OF A FACE ATTRACTS HIM AND INCITES THE NAIVE ARTIST TO THE SAME EXTENT AS THE TRAGEDY OF AN EXISTENCE, THE RAVAGES OF AGE IN THE DRAMA OF THE FIGURE.
BECAUSE THE FINALITY AND THE COGNITIVE FUNCTION OF THE REPRESENTATION OF THE HUMAN FACE IN THE NAIVE PAINTING IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE TRADITIONAL PORTRAIT FROM CULT ART.
THE TRUTH OF HIS PORTRAITS DOES NOT FOLLOW FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE PHYSIOGNOMIC EXPRESSION (TRANSIENT AND RANDOM) OF THE MODEL, BUT FROM THE CERTIFICATION IS GENERIC MEMBERSHIP.
WE FEEL CLOSE AND EMOTIONALLY CONNECTED TO THE CHARACTERS THAT PARADE IN FRONT OF US, AS ON AN INFINITE SCREEN, IN PORTRAITURE THE NAIVE.
BECAUSE THEIR HUMANITY IS IN THE EXPRESSION HER PLASTIC, NO MATTER HOW CLUMSY AND HESITANT, BELIEVABLE, ALSO AUTHENTIC.
WE BELIEVE, WE ARE CONVINCED THAT THESE PEOPLE EXIST OR EXISTED AND WE FEEL BROTHERS WITH THEM, ALTHOUGH I HAVE NEVER MET THEM.
AND THEY MOVE US BECAUSE WE SEE IN THEM THE INTUITIVE EXPRESSION OF HUMAN INFINITY, THAT PERMANENT WATERFALL OF WHICH WE ARE ALSO PART AND WHICH IN THE FLOW THEY CEASELESSLY TRANSFORM THE MOMENT OF OUR UNIQUENESS IN ETERNITY.
A REVELATION THAT IMPLIES VICTORY NAIVE MODESTY OVER INDIVIDUALISTIC PRIDE.
POPULAR ART IS THE PRODUCT OF A HISTORICAL CONTINUITY INHERITED AND NOT THE EMANATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL TASTE AND OF AN INVENTIVENESS FREE FROM ANY CONSTRAINTS.
IT IS BASED ON VALUE HOMOGENEITY OF TRADITIONS, CONVENTIONS, ALSO TRADITIONS.
THE CONSTANT FUND OF AESTHETIC SENSIBILITY, OF CREATORS' AVAILABILITY OF OUR PEOPLE IS A GIVEN PSYCHO-SOCIAL, HISTORICALLY CONDITIONED, ALSO NOT THE RESULT EXTERNAL ORGANIZATIONAL MEASURES, NO MATTER HOW STIMULATING.
RICH ACTIVITY OF AMATEUR ARTISTS AND IN PARALLEL WITH THEM A NAIVE ARTIST, FROM TOWNS AND VILLAGES, TOOK OVER MOSTLY THE AESTHETIC FUNCTION THAT FOLKLORE FULFILLED IT IN RELATION TO THE ARTISTIC SENSIBILITY, THE IMAGINATION AND CREATIVE AVAILABILITY OF THE MASSES.
THE ATTRACTION AND PASSION OF THE PUBLIC FOR NAIVE ART IS EXEMPT FROM ANY KIND OF DISCRIMINATION: SOCIAL, PROFESSIONAL, CULTURAL, EDUCATIONAL OR AGE.
IN THE CIRCLE OF COLLECTORS OR ONLY IN THAT OF NAIVE ART' ADMIRERS THE MOST HETEROGENEOUS COMMUNION CAN BE FOUND RECEPTIVE: HEADS OF STATE, MINISTERS, ALSO DIPLOMATS, ALONGSIDE BY SIMPLE ANONYMOUS CITIZENS, DOCTORS, ENGINEERS, OR UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, ALONG WITH WORKERS, STUDENTS, OR HOUSEWIVES, FAMOUS WRITERS AND ACTORS, ALONGSIDE OF PAINTERS AND ART CRITICS AMONG THE MOST ELEVATED.
THE MOTIVATION OF THE PUBLIC SUCCESS OF ART NAIVE HAS A DUAL NATURE, IT MANIFESTS ALTERNATIVELY OR AND CONCURRENTLY: MENTAL (RELATING TO A CERTAIN TYPE OF SPIRITUAL REACTION, COGNITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS REALITY) AND SOCIAL (EXPRESSING A REACTION TO SOCIETY AND MODERN ART).
PSYCHOLOGICALLY, THE FIRST INSTANCE THAT RESPONDS TO CALL IN THE PRESENCE OF THE IMPULSES OF NAIVE ART IS THAT OF CHILDHOOD, PAST PHYSIOLOGICAL AGE, NEVER BUT TOTALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY.
AS AN ANSWER AGAINST MODERN ARTISTIC CURRENTS SUCH AS CUBISM, ABSTRACTIONISM, ALSO SURREALISM OF ACADEMIC ART, IN RELATION TO THEIR DYNAMITE ACTIONS, THE NAIVE PAINTERS HAVE STARTED, UNCONSCIOUSLY AND OUT OF A REFLEX OF SELF-DEFENSE, TO VISUALLY "SECRET" A KIND OF "ANTIDOTE", OF ANTIDOTE, IN ORDER TO PRESERVE, ACCORDING TO POWERS, THE MOST VALUABLE PART OF OUR SENSORY ENVIRONMENT, TO PRESERVE WHAT WAS LEFT OF SAVED, TO BE RECOVERED, LOOKING ASSIDUOUSLY FOR THE WAY TO THESE RESERVATIONS OF NATURE AND NATURALNESS, OF THE HUMAN AND THE NATURAL.
NAIVE ART IS TIMELESS AND NATIONAL.
THE PLASTIC EXPRESSION ALSO POLARIZES, ALONG WITH THE CONTENT THEMATICALLY, THE LINES OF FORCE OF A NATIONAL PROFILE IN NAIVE ART.
ALTHOUGH DIFFERENT IN STRUCTURE, CA EXPRESSION AND FINALITY OF POPULAR ART AND FOLKLORE, NAIVE PLASTIC FINDS ITS RESOURCES TO SENSITIZE AND DESIRE FOR BEAUTY IN THE SAME PSYCHIC SUBSTRATE AND AFFECTIVE THAT HAS GENERATED THEM ALL.
THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF NAIVE ART IS THAT OF THE MENTAL AND MORAL PROFILE, CHARACTERISTIC OF PEOPLE.
IN NATIVE ART ARE USED FANTASTIC IMAGES, INVENTIVENESS AND INTELLECTUAL MOBILITY, HEIGHTENED CREATIVITY, HIS OPEN AND COMMUNICATIVE NATURE, HIS NATIVE APPETITE FOR HUMOR SPONTANEITY, THE APPROACH OF THE NAIVE PAINTER IS MOST OFTEN A REFLEX, NON-DELIBERATE GESTURE AND NOT GUIDED BY CONSTRUCTIVE PRINCIPLES AND PRE-EXISTING CANONS, THE NARRATIVE CHARACTER OF NAIVE ARTIST TO EXPRESS STORIES IN PICTURES AND TO MAKE DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS, THE MAGICAL ASPECT GENERATED BY EXUBERANCE AND INVENTIVENESS, INFINITE CHROMATICISM OF NAIVE PAINTING, THESE SKILLS OF NAIVE ARTIST CANNOT BE MET IN THE PROCESS OF CREATING A SCULPTURE.
SUBJECTS OF INSPIRATION FOR NAIVE ARTIST ARE ALSO: THE VILLAGE, BIBLICAL PARABLES, ANCESTRAL MYSTERY, OLD TRADITIONS, THE VILLAGE CEREMONIES SUCH AS THE WEDDING, THE FUNERAL, THE PICKING OF THE VINES, TRADITIONAL DANCES OF VILLAGERS, IN THEIR PICTURESQUE COSTUMES, SOLDIERS AND FIDDLERS, THE INTERNAL TENSION THAT REACHES THE LIMITS OF PSYCHIC DISTURBANCE.
NAIVE ART ALLOWS COMMUNION BETWEEN OUR BEING AND THE HIDDEN BEING OF THINGS, THE DOMINANCE OF INTUITION OVER PREMEDITATION AND AN UNINHIBITED IMAGINATION, WHICH IS NOT DRIVEN BY ANY CONVENTION OR CANON IMPOSED BY EDUCATION.
ROMANIAN NAIVE ARTISTS: LUCIA CONTAN, STAN IOAN PATRAS, ION NITA NICODIN, RODICA NICODIN, NICOLAE PATRU, PETRU MIHUT, GHEORGHE CIOBANU, LUCICA CIOBANU, POPA GENOVEVA, GHEORGHE BABET, IOAN MARIC, MIHAI VINTILA, VIOREL CRISTEA, ROBERT SCRIPCARU, MARIA TRIFU, STEFAN STIRBU, VIOREL CRISTEA, GHEORGHE NEGRU, ANUICA MARAN, DANIEL PETRAS, PETRU VINTILA.
FRENCH NAIVE ARTISTS: HENRI ROUSSEAU, PAUL GAUGUIN (SELF-TAUGHT PAINTER, POST-IMPRESSIONIST, SYMBOLIST, SYNTHETIST, ALSO PRIMITIVE ARTIST), ANDRE BAUCHANT, CAMILLE BOMBOIS, SERAPHINE LOUIS, LOUIS VIVIN, ALAIN THOMAS.
CROATIAN NAIVE ARTISTS: DRAGAN GAZI, MATIJA SKURJENI, IVAN GENERALIC, JOSIP GENERALIC, KRSTO HEGEDUSIC, MIJO KOVACIC, IVAN LACKOVIC-CROATA, FRANJO MRAZ, IVAN VECENAJ, MIRKO VIRIUS, BRUNO PALADIN, IVAN RABUZIN, MARILYN CVITANIC.
POLAND NAIVE ARTISTS: WALDEMAR SWIERZY (POSTER AND GRAPHIC ARTIST, BOOK ILLUSTRATOR), EWALD GAWLIK, EDMUND MONSIEL (WHO HAS CREATED, IN MY OPINION, SKETCHES FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ICONS/SAINTS/LIGHT SPIRITUAL ENTITIES, THESE SKETCHES WERE MADE IN ACCORDING WITH ARTIST VISIONS/CLAIRVOYANCES), TEOFIL OCIEPKA, ERWIN SOWKA, PAWEL WROBEL, LEOPOLD WROBEL.
AMERICAN NAIVE ARTISTS: JOSEPH PICKETT, JOHN KANE, MORRIS HIRSHFIELD, ANNA MARY ROBERTSON MOSES, BARBARA OLSEN.
BRITISH NAIVE ARTIST: ALFRED WALLIS.
GERMAN NAIVE ARTISTS: JOSEF WITTLICH, THOMAS GRACHOWIAK, HENRY DIECKMANN, MINNA ENNULAT, FRANZ IOSEF GRIMMELSEN, MAJA KUNERT, ROSEMARIE LANDSIEDEE-EICKEN, DOROTHEA LOBEL-BOCK, EDUARD ODENTHAL, WALDEMAR RUSCHE, MAX RAFFLER.
ISRAELI NAIVE ARTIST: SHALOM OF SAFED (MOSKOVITZ).
JAPANESE NAIVE ARTISTS: KIYOSHI YAMASHITA, SUMA MARUKI.
SERBIAN/BOSNIAN/ HERZEGOVINIAN NAIVE ARTISTS: NEBOJSA TOMASEVIC, ILIJA BASILJ-BASICEVIC, EMERIK FEJES (YUGOSLAVIAN/HUNGARIAN), IVICA PROPADOLO (born in BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA, lives in CROATIA), DUSHANKA PETROVICH, ALJBETA CHIZHIKOVA, DRAGAN MIKHAILOVICH, EMERIK FEYESH, FERENZ PATAKI, SAVA SEKULIC, SAVA STOIKOV, ZORAN ZARICH, ZUZANA KHALUPOVA, SLOBODAN ZIVANOVIC, ROZALIYA MARKOV, MARTIN YONASH, MARTIN PALUSHKA, GORDANA DIELOSHEVICH, EVA KHUSARIKOVA, DEYAN ZHIVANOVICH, ANNA KNYAZHOVICH.
ITALIAN NAIVE ARTISTS: ORNEORE METELLI, BERNARDO PASSOTI, ANTONIO LIBAGUE, ENRICO BENASSI, BRUNO ROVESTI, UDO TONIATO.
UKRAINIAN NAIVE ARTIST: MARIA OKSENTIYIVNA PRYMACHENKO.
HUNGARIAN NAIVE ARTISTS: ELEK GYORI, ANDRAS SULI.
AUSTRIAN NAIVE ARTIST: FRANZ A. SPIELBICHLER.
SWISS NAIVE ARTIST: BARTHOLOMAUS LAMMLER.
CZECH NAIVE ARTISTS: VACLAV BERANEK, ROBERT GUTTMANN, NATALIA SCHMIDTOVA, LUDMILA PROCHAZKOVA, PETR VALEK, STEFAN TKAC.
GEORGIAN NAIVE ARTIST: NIKO PIROSMANASHVILI.
HAITIAN NAIVE ARTISTS: HECTOR HYPPOLYTE, PHILOME OBIN, ANDRE PIERRE, CASTERA BAZILE, GERARD VALCIN.
GUATEMALAN NAIVE ARTIST: ANDRES CURRUCHICH.
CHILEAN NAIVE ARTIST: LUIS HERRERA GUEVARA.
URUGUAYAN NAIVE ARTIST: CARLOS GONZALES.
ECUADORIAN NAIVE ARTIST: DIOGENES PAREDES.
CUBANS NAIVE ARTISTS: ALBERTO ANIDO PACHECO, BENJAMIN DUARTE.
-NATIONAL GALLERY OF NAIVE ART FROM PITESTI - COUNTY ARGES MUSEUM, ROMANIA, EUROPE;
-INTERNATIONAL SALON OF NAIVE ART - CRISURILOR COUNTRY MUSEUM, ORADEA, BIHOR COUNTY, ROMANIA, EUROPE;
-MUSEUM OF NAIVE AND MARGINAL ART IN JAGODINA, SERBIA, EUROPE; KOVACICA, SERBIA;
-INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF NAIVE ART, ANATOLE JAKOVSKY, NICE, FRANCE, EUROPE;
-MUSEUM OF NAIVE ART - MAX FOURNY, PARIS, FRANCE, EUROPE;
-INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF NAIVE ART, VICQ, FRANCE;
-CROATIAN MUSEUM OF NAIVE ART, ZAGREB, CROATIA, EUROPE;
-MUSEUM OF BAD ART, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A.;
-NATIONAL FOLK DECORATIVE ART MUSEUM, KYIV, UKRAINE;
-MUSEUM OF HUNGARIAN NAIVE ARTISTS, KECSKEMET, HUNGARY, EUROPE;
-NAIVE ART MUSEUM OF LATVIA, RIGA, EUROPE;
-MANUEL MORAL INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF NAIVE ART, SPAIN, PLAZA DE SANTA LUISA DE MARILLAC, JAEN (ANDALUSIA), SPAIN;
-RIO DE JANEIRO, BRASIL, INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF NAIVE ART.