d colors that aren’t matching reality, rather than subtle mixtures, tones and shades.
Figures in paintings are usually shown full face or absolutely strict profile. They rarely cover up much of a face and almost never paint figures entirely from the back.
Intensity and passion are communicated through the figures, especially their staring eyes and preciseness of line and color.
Details are remarkably well-defined, which, besides bright colors, adds to the liveliness of a painting.
Most common motifs are live creatures, people and flora, nature, folklore motifs, and lives of ordinary people, especially rustic scenes.
The focus is on lively characters and rarely on lifeless objects. They paint exotic places, even if they’ve never been there (for example Rousseau’s jungle), fantastic creatures, wild animals, everyday-life scenes, rural life scenes (farmers, mowing the fields, shepherds, pets etc.), landscapes, landscapes under snow, sledding and much more.
Rousseau is undoubtedly the most influential naive artist, but there are other artists of this genre who are worth mentioning.
Antonio Ligabue, an Italian painter, was one of the most important naive artists of the 20th century. He gained recognition for his work during the 1940s.
Russian painter Nikifor created over 40 000 paintings. Sidney Nolan created landscapes that aimed to celebrate Australian history. Grandma Moses started her artistic career at the age of 78 and was known for her take on American realism.
Serbian painters from Kovačica (most famous is Zuzana Halupova) create great panoramic paintings.
Ilija Bašičević Bosilj, outsider and naive painter, uneducated Serbian farmer, started painting as a middle-aged man, and despite that had solo exhibitions even in New York.
Connection to other art genres
Naive art is often connected to primitivism, primitive (tribal) art, and confused with folk and outsider art.
Primitive art refers to tribal art from Africa, the South Pacific and Indonesia, prehistoric and very early European art. Primitivism is used to describe any art that imitates or is characterized by primitive art.
Folk art is utilitarian and decorative art that expresses national identity. Usually, folk artists are uneducated, as well as naive artists. It’s obvious why folk and naive art easily confused.
Outsider art represents any work of art that is created by socially and culturally marginal people – undereducated, mentally ill, prisoners – unconnected to the conventional art world.
Appreciation of naive art has increased over years. Today, it is completely recognized art genre that is spread and represented in galleries all over the world.