Primitivism

Primitivism

Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate "primitive" experience. In Western art, primitivism typically has borrowed from non-Western or prehistoric people perceived to be "primitive", such as Paul Gauguin's inclusion of Tahitian motifs in paintings and ceramics. Borrowings from "primitive" or non-Western art has been important to the development of modern art. Primitivism has often been critiqued for reproducing the racist stereotypes about non-European peoples used by Europeans to justify colonial conquest.

Representative Artists

  1. Henri Rousseau (French, 1844-1910)

  2. Siegfried L. Kratochwil (Austrian, 1916-2005)

  3. Teofil Ociepka (Polish, 1891-1978)

Primitivism Artworks Slideshow

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The Sleeping Gypsy
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Frankfurt
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Living Fire
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Mammoth. Saturn's Lion