Primitivism in Modern Art, a Brief Synopsis

The art world's history has been one of much diversity and exploration by those who have been consumed within it. Primitivism is an understanding of what is simple and unsophisticated, which is expressed through art and, at times, literature.[1] Many considered the awakening of modern artists that emerged during the late 19th century, and early 20th century the reintegration of the primitivist mindset. This was at a time when art needed a new form and approach beyond the academic standards. Those who found themselves infatuated with the idea of primitive thinking or ideas rejected the objective reasoning that surrounded them. Artists were drawn to the perspectives and thoughts that revealed mysterious energy. Artwork, textiles and ideas that were foreign to their societal understanding stood out to their subconscious minds and their most inner desires.

Primitivism’s impact on the psychological and intellectual aspects of modern art came during a period when artists needed more substance and depth to everyday life. The upcoming movement allowed artist to explore their subconscious thoughts through painting and sculpture. The world was introduced to a whole new way of artists expressing their motifs, academically, aesthetically and contextually. “The second half of the nineteenth century in Europe witnessed a tendency among progressive artists and writers to turn the focus of their attention away from academic “high” art to the folk production of rural populations…Thus, the arts and crafts of European peasants took their place beside other primitive forms, such as the art of Japan, ancient Egypt, Indonesia and other fifteenth-century Europe” (Rhodes, 23) These new ideas and foreign concepts triggered a new sense of understanding and relating to themselves as artists. Connecting to the inner self, their higher self, the "primitive" being, it allowed artists to stand up to the hierarchy of what was viewed as relevant and proper. Artists felt the need to get in touch with a simpler time before the industrial revolution overtook society and its current comprehension of the status quo. “When artists made use of the primitive art they adopted a critical stance not to the primitive itself but, rather, to the civilized norms to their own society. This was either a way of proposing actual social change or critique of established western artistic practice.” (Rhodes 110) Western humanity was experiencing a huge shift in consciousness after the war and into the great depression. During this time artists urged the people of the Western world to look past their current social structures and challenge the norm. This new form of relating was viewed as rebellious and was not initially accepted.

The Fauvist’s were one of the main groups of painters that began classifying their artwork as primitive. It was evident that they were the initial pioneers because of their distinct style of painting. “Lacking any direct borrowing of subject matter or copying of form from the primitive, in what does the primitivism of the fauves consist? It is evident in the first place in their choice of subjects to paint, and their relation to these subjects. One of the most common themes is that of nudes bathing in a landscape, a scene neither new nor original, yet given a treatment, quite apart from the method of drawing and the handling of color, which sets it off from anything that has gone before.” (Goldwater, 90) Andre Derain’s, Bathers, 1908, takes this rendition in a completely different direction aesthetically although this context was seen as typical. Flat nude forms that look as if they are part of the landscape all together giving the artwork an exceptional decorative feel. The paint handling has a soft approach to it with distinct outlining and shadows. This allows the figures to still keep their form in the midst of the gentle yet unmuted colour palette. “Their effort to “return to naked simplicity” had induced the fauves to reduce their methods of communication to one, namely that of colour, and to employ this as directly as possible.” (Goldwater, 98) Henri Matisse’s, Joie De Virve, 1905, is a representation of pure exercised sexual freedom. The message of the painting exhibited a joyful utopia of sexual pleasure and a life lived well unconfined by the modern world. The colour application Matisse used was bright and bold, distinct trait of the fauves highly stylized techniques. The nude men and women represented on the canvas have a flat form that successfully implicates a simpler contextual time, a more savage state of mind.

Andre Derain, The Bathers, 1908

Henri Matisse, Joie De Virve, 1905

The influence of African art on the great minds of the modern artists created a conscious shift for generations of artists that followed. Recognized artist such as Pablo Picasso, were strongly influenced by Iberian/African sculptures. While some artists visited the Museums to gather inspiration and insight on this new form of representation others had begun their own private collections. “Picasso told curators and writers of the pivotal visits he subsequently made, beginning in June 1907, to the African collections at the Trocadero, famously describing his revulsion at the dimly lit, musty galleries but his inability to turn away from his study of the objects’ inventive and elegant figural composition. The African sculptures, he said, had helped him to understand his purpose as a painter, which was not to entertain with decorative images, but to mediate between perceived reality and the creativity of the human mind – to be freed, or “exorcized,” from fear of the unknown by giving form to it.” (Murrell, 3) Picasso began new studies of his own and looked for his own personal connections to the art itself. Visiting these museums and embracing the culture helped Picasso navigate where his new style of painting would take him. During this intense time of study Picasso worked on one of his most famous primitive pieces, Les Demoiselles D’Aviogon, 1907. He successfully merged cubist distortions and Iberian influenced contextual subject matter that expanded and broadened the art world’s expectations. “The Primitivism of Picasso’s pivotal painting Les Demoiselles D’Aviogon is usually discussed in terms of certain formal similarities that exist between elements in the picture and African and Iberian sculpture, particularly in the ‘mask-like’ faces of the two women on the right of the picture.” (Rhodes, 90) Picasso juxtaposed the five nude female figures very angularly and incorporated his African inspiration. His primitive understanding captured the pureness and the simplicity of the native woodwork of the Iberian sculptures. This was something critics and viewers alike had never seen come from Picasso or the other artists of his era. “…In his is large 1906-1907 canvas Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, Picasso declared that the attribution of these forms to the influence of Negro art was inexact. He stated that at the time of painting this picture he had not yet made the acquaintance of African Negro art. On the other hand, he said that his interests, about that period, were intensely centred on Iberian sculpture, and there, if anywhere, was the source of inspiration of the new forms which were then beginning to appear in his work.” (Sweeney, 1) This masterpiece became much more than just a picture of distorted naked women. Picasso broke from the typical liner painting by exploring multi-perspective and simultaneous vision. By fearlessly exploring and creating with new inspiration helped triggered the beginning of the cubist movement.

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles D’Aviogon, 1907

The artists who embraced the primitive mindset were considered rebellious when Europe underwent social, industrial and economic change. The common goal of all artists who expressed these primitive motifs was to give a voice to the people looked down upon by those with higher stature. It was important to make a statement and create a stir emotionally and psychologically. It allowed society to find a way to wake up and have a deeper connection to enlightenment. It goes without saying that the conversation on who was inspired by these primitive motifs and how could go on forever. Those artists who found inspiration in primitivism and foreign cultures are most definitely responsible for changing the world of modern art forever.

Works Cited

Connelly, Frances S. "The Sleep of Reason: Primitivism in Modern European Art and Aesthetics." Ed. Sally Price. UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies 29.1 (Winter 1996): 18. JSTOR. Web. 1 Mar. 2017.

Goldwater, Robert. Primitivism in Modern Art. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard U Press, 1938. Print.

Knapp, James K. "Primitivism and the Modern." Duke University Press 1/2 2.15 (1986-1987): 365-79. JSTOR. Web. 1 Mar. 2017

Murrell, Denise. “African Influences in Modern Art.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aima/hd_aima.htm (April 2008)

Rhodes, Colin. Primitivism and Modern Art. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1994. Print.

Rubin, William, ed. "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994. Print.

Sweeney, James Johnson. "Picasso and Iberian Sculptures." College Art Association 23.3 (September 1941): 191-98. JSTOR. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

[1] Rubin, William, ed. "Primitivism" in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994. Print.