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Visiting our exhibition
« An Atlantic Crossing » (4th May–5th September
2004)
Departure
: Europe…
European Naïve Art production is
firmly linked to the cultural heritage of each country
or region. Extremely varied, it is an eloquent resumé
of the large number of artistic personalities to be found
practising this art form. This diversity is also manifests
itself on a technical level : european artists use all
kinds of media ranging from paint on canvas, wood, and
hardboard to embroidery, sewn fabric, painting under glass
and sculpture. |
The first
part of the exhibition takes us to the monuments and squares
of European cities : the Sacré Cœur,
Paris, by Paul Gaignon, Waisenhausplatz, Berne
by Helen Gudel, Amsterdam as seen by Belgian
artist, Nadia Becker, Marienplatz, Munich by
Heidrun Maurer, as well as those found in towns and cities
in England, Spain, Italy… Other naive artists choose
a more intimate approach, unveiling landscapes little
known to the general public, which, for them, hold special
resonance : the village where they grew up, a place dear
to their hearts…
The exhibition next leads the visitor to Eastern Europe,
with a series of paintings by Polish, Rumanian, Czech,
Slovak, Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian naïve artists.
Steeped in a strong cultural identity, they describe the
habits and customs of these regions and recount day to
day rural life, legends handed down through oral tradition
and religious and communal activities which punctuate
the passage of time, for example Peasants leaving
for Midnight Mass by Serbian artist Mikhail Dragan.
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Mihailovic Dragan (Serbie), Peasants leaving for Midnight
Mass, 1989, acrylic on canvas |
And
how does the East view the West ? Ljubomir Milinkov pays
tribute to his country of adoption, France, by showing
the Paris Opera as it has never been seen before : transported
to the banks of the Seine, set in the middle of a verdant
square, the Opera House is wreathed in a cloud of sheep,
whilst the painter-shepherd (the artist himself ?) contemplates
the whole. Painted with a pinch of irony, two hens and
a cock wait at the entrance to the monument. |
Embarkation...
Be they extremely active or relatively
quiet, ports always symbolize a departure for the unknown.
They represent the transition from bustling city life
to the mysteries and adventures of life on the ocean wave.
Depending on their individual sensitivities, our artists
paint a variety of ports, sometimes realistic, sometimes
imaginary.
In this room Bruno Paladin's passion
for boats is revealed through two intensely personal and
original canvases by this artist. The composition of "A
pretty little port" with its angular graphics
and mass of multi-coloured dots forming a cohesive whole
is representative of his work and provides an new opening
for Yugoslav naïve painting.
The Crossing...
A vast expanse of salt water, the sea
is a great source of inspiration for naïve artists.
Monsters which live in its depths, gods, mermaids and
also islands lost in the middle of the ocean, form a part
of human imagination and contribute fully to naïve
imagery. This room gives pride of place to two works by
Simone Le Moigne (1911-2001). With great sensitivity,
she brings us her vision of the sea which she discovered
with trepidation for the first time at the age of 20….
Water can save lives just as it can
swallow them up. Max Fourny called upon the artists he
met on his many trips around the globe to illustrate his
book, « Noah’s Ark and Naïve Artists »,.
Using their imagination to transform the story from the
Book of Genesis into form and colour, they depicted this
marine catastrophe, symbol of destruction and renewal.
This exhibition offers a glimpse of this series of Arks,
with amongst others, pictures by Croation painter, Branko
Bahunek, Hungarian artist, Tamas Galambos and Maria Rolly
from Switzerland. |
Simone Le Moigne (France), In Search of Peace,
1983, oil on canvas. Private collection.
Tamas Galambos (Hungary),
The Flood, 1977, oil on canvas, 60x81cm
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Our
Journey’s End : the Americas !
The continent’s past and present
is divided by a long history of conquests, constraint,
enslavement and upheavals. Through their works, the peoples
of the Americas offer a veritable eye-witness account
of their history and culture. |
In
South America, this vital art form is born of the moving
encounter between African mythology, (which live on through
Voodoo in Haïti and Candomblé in Brazil),
and an identity gradually won back from invaders. It is
often characterized by picturesque composition combined
with a brilliance of colour and light unequalled on other
continents. Daily life, religious rituals, representations
of saints and popular customs, treated with precision
and exuberance, constitute the principal sources of inspiration
for American artists.
American naïve artists have come
to follow a similar destiny to that of European artists.
With a prolific production and conventional inspiration
they primarily depict scenes from daily life and landscapes
: from local sporting activities such as ice hockey or
American football to the icy expanse of the Canadian prairie.
The exhibition moves south through Haïti with «
The Village Dance » by Jean Dubic, to South America
and the Brazilian naïve artists, Anna Maria Dias,
Alvez Gerson de Souza et Luis Carlos Figueiredo, as well
as Argentinian painter Jorgelina Flores and Gustavo Novoa
from Chile. |
Anna Maria Dias (Brazil), The football, 1984, acrylic
on canvas. |
| « An
Atlantic Crossing » aims to provide a general
view of Naïve Art throughout the world for non-specialists
in this field ; a window on the world through art for children
; and an opportunity for specialists to see an international
collection of exceptional stylistic and technical diversity.
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