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Columbia Encyclopedia entry: primitivism
Primitivism, in art, the style of works of self-trained artists who develop their talents in a fanciful and fresh manner, as in the paintings of Henri Rousseau and Grandma Moses. The term primitive has also been used to describe the style of early American naive painters such as Edward Hicks and has been applied to the art of the various Italian and Netherlandish schools produced prior to c.1450. More recently the term has included modern artists who research the past as well as cultures foreign to their own, such as Robert Smithson and Joseph Beuys.

See W. Rubin, ed., Primitivism in 20th-Century Art (1988).

Wikipedia search results for: Primitivism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Primitivism is the opinion that life was better or more moral during the early stages of mankind or among primitive peoples and has deteriorated with civilization - is a response to the perennial question of whether the development of complex civilization and technology has benefited or harmed mankind. From primitivism springs the romanticised ideal of the Noble savage, as being a more worthy, more noble being than civilized man. Whether and to what extent we should simplify our lives and get "back to basics" is a debate that has been going on since the invention of writing. In antiquity the superiority of the simple life was expressed in the Myth...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: primitivism
Results 1 - 6  of 6
  • Flandrin, Hippolyte Jean

    Flandrin, Hippolyte Jean 1809–64, French painter; student and follower of Ingres. Influenced by the primitivism of Giotto, he is best known for his religious paintings, such as St. Clair Curin...

  • Goldwater, Robert

    Goldwater, Robert, 1907–73, American art historian, b. New York City. Goldwater taught at Queens College, N.Y., from 1934 to 1957, when he was appointed professor of fine arts at New York Univ...

  • Winters, Yvor

    Winters, Yvor, 1900–1968, American poet and critic, b. Chicago, educated at the Univ. of Chicago, Univ. of Colorado (M.A., 1925), and Stanford (Ph.D., 1934). From 1928 until his death he was a...

  • folk art

    Folk art, the art works of a culturally homogeneous people produced by artists without formal training. The forms of such works are generally developed into a tradition that is either cut off ...

  • Rousseau, Jean Jacques

    Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 1712–78, Swiss-French philosopher, author, political theorist, and composer. Rousseau was born at Geneva, the son of a Calvinist watchmaker. His mother died shortly aft...

  • American art

    American art, the art of the North American colonies and of the United States. There are separate articles on American architecture, North American Native art, pre-Columbian art and architectu...

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