MS Naive Art 4C 08 July 04.qxd

Naive Art
Page 4:
The Violin-Player, Mihail Dascalu
oil on canvas, 120 x 80 cm, Private collection
Designed by:
Baseline Co Ltd
127-129A Nguyen Hue
Fiditourist 3rd Floor
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam
ISBN 978-1-78042-321-0
© Sirrocco, London, UK (English version)
© Confidential Concepts, worldwide, USA
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Estate
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Denis/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Vivin/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Larionov/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Matisse/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Gontcharova/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Chagall/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Kandinsky/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Bauchant/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Louis/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
Bombois/Artists Rights Society, New York, USA/ADAGP, Paris
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or adapted without the
permission of the copyright holder, throughout the world. Unless otherwise specified, copyrights on
the works reproduced lies with the respective photographers. Despite intensive research, it has not
always been possible to establish copyright ownership. Where this is the case we would
appreciate notification
2
Foreword
“The essence of all genuine art is ultimately naïve if we understand this
to mean purity of heart and thought.”
— Anonymous
3
Contents
Babici, Onisim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225
Bahunek, Branko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Bauchant, André . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119, 121, 123, 129
Biro, Pavel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
Bombois, Camille . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127, 131, 133, 135, 137, 139, 141
Chagall, Marc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103, 109
Ciobanu, Camelia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221, 237
Ciobanu, Gheorghe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Ciucurescu, Traian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Coltet, Gheorghe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205
Corpodean, Mircea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
Cristea, Viorel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Dascalu, Mikhail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183, 203, 241, 247
Delacroix, Michel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Denis, Maurice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Dumitrescu, Gheorghe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
Duranton, André . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Gauguin, Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Generalic, Ivan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143, 145, 213, 215
Gontcharova, Natalia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Grigorescu, Ion Gheorghe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195, 223
Hirshfield, Morris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Jacob, Paula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151, 159, 189
Kandinsky, Vassily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Kiss, Ana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153, 161
Kustodiev, Boris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Larionov, Mikhail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35, 39, 83, 95, 115
Louis, Séraphine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
5
Lupascu, Alexandrina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Malevitch, Kasimir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Maric, Ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207
Matisse, Henri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79, 81
Metelli, Orneore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .211
Mitrachita, Gheorghe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155, 163
Nicodin, Ion Nita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
Palatini, Maria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Pavelescu, Emil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11, 243, 245
Pencea, Ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
Pirosmani, Niko . . . . . . . . . . . . .19, 25, 37, 65, 67, 69, 71, 75, 77, 87
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89, 97, 99, 101, 111, 113, 117, 165
Popescu, Catinca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217
Rasic, Milan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197
Robu, Calistrat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191, 193
Rousseau, Henri . . . . . . .17, 21, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 57, 61, 63
Sénatus, Jean-Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Stanica, Constantin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
Stefanita, Elisabeta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Sturza, Gheorghe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157, 201
Tite, Anuta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173, 175
Turda, Toader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
Vacarciuc, Policarp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Van Gogh, Vincent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Vivancos, Miguel Garcia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Vivin, Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31, 33, 209
Volkova, Elena A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233, 235
Zahiu, Valeria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
7
How Old is Naïve art?
T
here are two possible ways of defining
when Naïve art originated. One is to
assume that it happened when Naïve art was
first accepted as an artistic mode of status
equal to every other artistic mode. That would
date its birth to the early years of the twentieth
century.
The War of Independence
Traian Ciucurescu, 1877
Oil on glass, 30 x 25 cm
Private collection
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The other is to apprehend Naïve art as no
more or less than that, and to look back into
human prehistory and to a time when all art
was of a type that might now be considered
Naïve – tens of thousands of years ago, when
the first rock drawings were etched and when
the first cave-pictures of bears and other
animals were scratched out.
The War of Independence
Emil Pavelescu, 1877
Oil on canvas, 55 x 80 cm
Private collection
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If we accept this second definition, we are
inevitably confronted with the very intriguing
question, ‘So who was that first Naïve artist?’
Many thousands of years ago, then, in the
dawn of human awareness, there lived a
hunter. One day it came to him to scratch on a
smooth rock surface the contours of a deer or
a goat in the act of running away.
Weaver Seen from Front
Vincent van Gogh, 1884
Oil on canvas, 70 x 85 cm
Rijskmuseum, Amsterdam
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A single, economical line was enough to
render the exquisite form of the graceful
creature and the agile swiftness of its flight.
The hunter’s experience was not that of an
artist, simply that of a hunter who had
observed his ‘model’ all his life. It is impossible
at this distance in time to know why he made
his drawing. Perhaps it was an attempt to
say something important to his family group;
The Schuffenecker Family
Paul Gauguin, 1889
Oil on canvas, 73 x 92 cm
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
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perhaps it was meant as a divine symbol, a
charm intended to bring success in the hunt.
From the point of view of an art historian, such
an artistic form of expression testifies to an
awakening of individual creative energy and a
need, after its accumulation through the
process of encounters with nature, to find an
outlet for it.
Me, Landscape Portrait
Henri Rousseau, 1890
Oil on canvas, 143 x 110 cm
Narodni Gallery, Prague
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This first-ever artist really did exist. He must
have existed. And he must therefore have been
truly ‘naïve’ in what he depicted because he
was living at a time when no system of
pictorial representation had been invented.
Only thereafter did such a system gradually
begin to take shape and develop. And only
when such a system is in place can there be
anything like a ‘professional’ artist.
Sign for a Wineshop
Niko Pirosmani
Oil on tin plate, 57 x 140 cm
Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, Tbilisi
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It is very unlikely, for example, that the
paintings on the walls of the Altamira or
Lascaux caves were creations of unskilled
artists. The precision in depiction of the
characteristic features of bison, especially their
massive agility, the use of chiaroscuro, the
overall beauty of the paintings with their
subtleties of colorations – all these surely
reveal the brilliant craftsmanship of the professional artist.
A Woman’s Portrait
Henri Rousseau, 1895
Oil on canvas, 160 x 105 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
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So what about the ‘naïve’ artist, that hunter
who did not become professional? He
probably carried on with his pictorial
experimentation, using whatever materials
came to hand; the people around him
did not perceive him as an artist, and his
efforts were pretty much ignored.
Faces in a Spring Landscape
(The Sacred Wood)
Maurice Denis, 1897
Oil on canvas, 94 x 120 cm
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
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