| What actually is art? Give me ten people and I'll give | | | | renowned folk artist painting such countryside favorites |
| you ten different definitions of the word. What it | | | | as "This Old Checkered House in Winter" which was |
| means to you is as unique to you as your fingerprints. | | | | the subject of many paintings, one of which was |
| But who's to say what qualifies as art, or fine art? | | | | appraised on "Antiques Roadshow" in 2004 for |
| What distinguishes the art of Jean Michel Basquiat | | | | $60,000. Several of her paintings have appeared on |
| from Rembrandt van Rijn? Besides the time | | | | Hallmark holiday cards. |
| differences, each artist's art have been met with | | | | Earlier we have Horace Pippin, born in my local area in |
| different types of criticism. Was one art, and the other | | | | West Chester in 1888, who painted "Giving Thanks" |
| just crummy art? Who's to say? | | | | and "Domino Players." Even earlier in France, there |
| What we can say though is there is an unmistakable | | | | was Henri Rousseau, with his dream-like |
| mainstream art circuit with art dealers and galleries, | | | | representations of jungles and jungle animals. |
| critics and fine artists with or without their MFA's. | | | | All of these artists could have been considered Naive |
| Sometimes this crowd can be quite pretentious and | | | | painters because they were self-taught and their |
| judges art in its own way, usually following the natural | | | | paintings possessed a child-like quality to them. This |
| cycles of fads and trends. What's hip today may be | | | | doesn't mean all Naive painters had no formal |
| tomorrow's old news. That's just how it is. | | | | education, but as it relates to Outsider Art it generally |
| But true art and artistry can be found everywhere. | | | | does. In modern times there is no stigma attached to |
| Wherever there is creativity there is art. You don't | | | | this genre of art. |
| need to hang around in posh upper class galleries and | | | | Children's Art |
| drink expensive wine to be a real artist. | | | | I talked about how children learn art in my article |
| Jean Dubuffet and Art Brut | | | | Learning Art. The way we learn as we grow up and |
| "Art Brut" in French literally means "rough" or "raw" art. | | | | experiment with art starts out with an expression |
| This was translated to "Outsider Art" in English. It was | | | | close to ancient societies' art. For example, in ancient |
| started by the painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet to | | | | Egyptian wall paintings you will find people in a row side |
| describe art that is outside of the official art culture. He | | | | by side with no overlap. Children would express the |
| knew the value of art which normally doesn't hang on | | | | same type of thing when they draw people in a crowd |
| gallery walls but nonetheless should be recognized and | | | | next to each other in a row instead of showing any |
| not necessarily written off as lesser art. | | | | signs of overlap. The way they see it, if someone's |
| Dubuffet mainly focused on the art of the mentally ill in | | | | arm looks as if it disappears into the back of another |
| insane asylums. One particularly noteworthy example | | | | person, this makes no visual sense. You wouldn't really |
| was Adolf Wolfli. As a mental patient diagnosed with | | | | see a person's arm actually going inside someone else, |
| psychosis, he was an extremely prolific artist creating | | | | so why would one draw it that way. |
| epic novels of 45 volumes with over 25,000 pages | | | | The same is true for people in buildings. When a child |
| and 1600 illustrations. With minimal resources he would | | | | draws a person inside a building, they wouldn't show a |
| slowly create work after work with only one pencil | | | | face looking out from a window, because this would |
| and two sheets of paper a week at his disposal. This | | | | mean there is simply a floating head in a window sill. If |
| meant drawing on tiny bits of paper, using small stubs | | | | anything their art was more true to reality, than to |
| of pencils, and anything he could find or beg off of | | | | aesthetics and perspective. |
| people to get his work done. | | | | One funny recent story which raises the question of |
| Wolfli's work was often characterized as | | | | the authority of art dealers is a woman selling her |
| "schizophrenic art" with obsessive symmetry, | | | | son's scribble paintings as priceless works of modern |
| ornamental patterns, reduced depth. Every piece of | | | | art. She didn't tell the dealers her son was 6 or 7 years |
| the paper is covered, leaving no white or empty space. | | | | old and the paintings were more or less doodles. |
| Another similar work is by the psychiatric patient | | | | Nonetheless the dealers saw the "genius" of them and |
| Friederich Schroder, who drew the "Swan Doll's Dance | | | | bought them top dollar. |
| of Death." With a perfect mirror symmetry down the | | | | If anything is to be learned from children and from |
| middle, the drawing shows a monster with a grotesque | | | | child-like naive paintings is that art can be appreciated |
| smile wearing a crown and holding his arms curving | | | | for art's sake. It doesn't have to be perfect and it |
| downward with birds' heads for hands, combining | | | | certainly does not need the approval of avant garde |
| animal with man. | | | | art experts. Art can be found in the small crafts of |
| Naive and Primitive Artists | | | | Christmas Kitsche statues, the scribbles of prisoners |
| Dubuffet was working with the mentally ill artists, while | | | | and psychiatric patients and even the finger paintings |
| "Outsider Art" outside of France was known to be a | | | | of gorillas. Art should be appreciated for what it is, and |
| much more general term. It included not just the | | | | what's its attempting to be. |
| psychotic art, but also naive, self-taught, and primitive | | | | Whether it's good art, bad art, crummy art, children's |
| art as well. On the American scene in the early to mid | | | | art, "Outsider Art" is still art. |
| twentieth century we had Grandma Moses, the | | | | |