International Museum of Naive Art - At the heart of Poetry

Virtual exhibition visit "At the heart of poetry"
6th September 2005 – 8th January 2006

Fantasy worlds

Naive artists take many liberties and reinvent a world tinted with magic and poetry. The contrast of this freedom of expression with our day to day environment constitutes the main link with poetry.

This language form, although it respects the established precepts of the genre, distances itself from daily life. Firstly because it is different from our everyday langauge and secondly because it tells of another world; that of feelings and emotions. Poetry is an elusive genre, steeped in suggestion which uses imagination in order to come into contact with the reader.

The works shown in this room bear witness to the imagination of naive artists. Angels, fantastical stage-settings, mysterious figures and fabulous landscapes all conspire to lead the spectator right to the heart of their poetic universe.

Isabelle PLANTE (France)
The City of Dreams
1985, acrylic on canvas

Christian Lloveras (France)
Father Christmas' Rounds
1991, oil on canvas

Nocturnal mysteries

The night, the stars and the moon are frequently recurring themes in poetry. Perhaps because they conjure up another world and, being inaccessible, they have always held a place in mankind's dreams. Night changes our perception of the world, offering a new way of looking at things. It is a mysterious time because nothing is distinct, one can only pick out the outlines of objects and living beings. The moon, nocturnal counterpart to the sun, is the poet's muse, a character in its own right.

These two principal elements of poetry are often found in the work of naive painters. Night is the moment when strange characters walk abroad, extraordinary meetings take place and there is a surprising twist in each tale.

Tranquil landscapes

Naive artists feel close to nature, for them it is never violent or a source of conflict. Plants and animals live in harmony with man, bringing him support and friendship.

In poetry, as in painting, nature seems to represent the the artist's state of mind. The four elements, water, air, earth and fire mirror his emotions and follow his lead. Natural elements come to life and become the artist's reflection. Nature takes on a certain amount of autonomy and functions like an indiviual, friend of man, as shown by the painting by Rajka Kupesic, "Eve and the serpent".

In painting luxuriant landscapes, naïve artists take the spectator on a tour through the poetic ountryside of the mind and lead him, at the whim of colours, on a voyage through time, memory and dreams.

Rajka KUPESIC (Canada)
Eve and the serpent, 1986
oil on board

Monique SCHAAR (Belgium)
Musical Communication
Oil on canvas

Lyrical cities

Second only to nature, the city is a favourite place for painters and poets. It is a place for wandering, whether it be physical, that of a walker out strolling or mental, where the soul loses itself. The poet and the painter can journey through the maze of streets and dead ends.

Cities offer a never-ending spectacle full of varying characters. The human condition becomes a character in a play wherein the poet accentuates its features and lifts its mask. The city streets provide quantities of picturesque scenes, situations and characters. They are a permanent source of motifs and themes with which the painter revitalises his imagination.

However, naive artistes do not always depict cities bustling with people. The most poetic cityscapes are those which represent calm, peaceful urban landscapes. They are often sparcely populated. The streets are empty and the windows shuttered.

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