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| Ode to Miro, The Naive C.T. Rasmuss, oil (July 4, 2013). |
I recently came across an interesting art book titled, Naive Art by Nathalia Brodskaia; what caught my attention was the painting cover, Myself, Portrait Landscape by French Painter, Henri Rousseau. After finishing an exciting chapter I, it's my understanding that Rousseau's the 1st/main icon of Naive Art Movement.
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| Myself, Portrait Landscape Henri Rousseau, oil (1890). |
As I began to read chapter II, I was surprised to see it start with Miro as the focus, but I shouldn't really; given his style and goals in his art, "to assassinate painting", where he set out to create a new set of archetypes, etc. Here's where a definition of Naive Painting helps:
Naive Art-is a classification of art that is often characterized by a childlike simplicity in its subject matter and technique.
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| Femme III Joan Miro, oil (1965). |
If we replace 'childlike' with the widely accepted term, Atavism - the tendency to revert to ancestral type; we now include works even more familiar artists such as Picasso or Matisse, who were greatly influenced by African & Eastern artifacts/primal art, respectively.
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| Nude with Towel Pablo Picasso, oil (1907). |
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| Girl with Green Eyes Henri Matisse, oil (1908). |
Now back to Rousseau, who exhibited periodically with the Impressionists from 1884-1910, it made me think of Gauguin, then I thought of his statement: to Van Gogh: "try to capture your sunflowers by memory". Given the statement by Gauguin and Miro's work presented in my art book....I closed it and tried Atavism -
Miro style, but yes!! in my own language:)
