The style of primitivism in painting has found wide application. First of all, representatives of this direction were self-taught artists who did not have sufficient professional skills, but sought to show themselves and their vision of the world. Like any other innovation, primitivism caused a great public outcry. Artists who achieved fame for many years after training, were dissatisfied with the new direction of painting, which did not take the creators half their lives to polish artistic skills. However, most art historians liked simple masterpieces, and primitivism still took its place in a huge variety of styles.
Features of primitivism
Primitivism in painting is characterized by a simplification of images: artists distort the world around them, which makes paintings more like ordinary children's drawings. However, the changes were made intentionally: through the illusion of simplicity and carelessness, the deep meaning of the work is visible. As in all other artistic styles, details are important in primitivism - they carry the main semantic load.
Ar brut
Ar-brut is an important branch of primitivism. A synonym for the definition is the term "outsider art." The works of this industry represent the world of the mentally ill or freaks who once moved away from society and plunged into a special reality. An important feature of ar-brunt is the complete absence of clear boundaries between the fantasies of the artist and real life. The abundance of small details suggests the thoughtlessness of life and the vain rush of the modern world - this is one of the most common authorial messages of ar-brut.
The opinion that no idea is hidden behind the naivety of the images is wrong. Primitive art in painting, artists are saturated not with surroundings, but with the internal state of the soul. It can be noticed only after careful consideration and analysis of the parts depicted - a quick look is inappropriate here.
How to learn to correctly define primitivism in painting
Primitivism does not exist without the naivety and spontaneous inspiration of the author. A person who first encounters such stories experiences a feeling similar to nostalgia. Children's vision of the world lies in the broken proportions, bright and saturated colors, deep moral subtext. Man in primitivism is more like a doll than a real character - this adds to his mystery.
The ability to pay attention to details and interpret them correctly is a real talent. In determining the artistic style, it will not be superfluous. You can learn to understand the artist yourself. For this, it is worth remembering several important criteria, noticing which it will be easy to distinguish works of primitivism from surrealism.
First, pure colors. The abundance of tones and midtones, chiaroscuro, the depth of space - this is not primitivism. In naive art, pure pastel colors or, on the contrary, too bright shades are used. Secondly, broken proportions. If the picture resembles stylized illustrations for a science fiction book, then this is primitivism. Thirdly, the mixing of reality with fantasy ideas - primitivism in painting combines a calm landscape and too catchy colors, people and incredible creatures.
Bright representatives of the primitivism style
Not only abstractionists and surrealists are full of modern painting. Primitivism opened the way to many talented creators whose work was not previously recognized. Among them are Grandma Moses, Henri Russo, Niko Pirosmani, Maria Primachenko, Alena Azernaya and many others. Pictures of the most famous primitive artists are stored in the Museum of Naive Art in Nice.
The world of childhood
Primitivism in painting has a special place. This is primarily due to the unique ability of artists to immerse people in the world of carelessness, naivety and spiritual purity. Despite the lack of artistic education among many primitivists, the paintings are filled with what most other areas lack so much: mood. Art lovers understand and appreciate this, which is why works in the genre of primitivism are so popular.