The first exhibition dedicated to naïve artists in China will run from 1 August to 12 November 2023 at the Jiushi Art Museum in Shanghai. The Chinese public will have an unprecedented opportunity to discover nine of the greatest painters known as "Modern Primitives", most of whom were brought together and championed by the German aesthete Wilhelm Uhde. The exhibition includes works by André Bauchant, Camille Bombois, Ferdinand Desnos, Jean Eve, Dominique Peyronnet, René Rimbert, Henri Rousseau, Séraphine Louis and Louis Vivin.September 6, 2023
Mainly on loan from the Galerie Dina Vierny and the Fondation Dina Vierny - Musée Maillol, this major exhibition entitled "Le monde merveilleux des peintres naïfs" features fifty-five works. The works are presented in five sections, comparing the artists and their visions of the world: "The Garden of Dreams", "The Lives of Others", "The Enchanted City", "Sunday Tables" and "Living Nature". Visitors can discover the favourite subjects of these artists, who had no formal training in the arts and no predisposition for painting. Often of modest origins, they had no access to an artistic education and therefore preferred, in the words of Dina Vierny, "the realm of instinct to the universe of knowledge". Often naturally solitary, these painters were able to develop their imaginations and convey them in visually simple yet sensitive and sincere ways. The theme of the cityscape - a subject common to all the artists mentioned except Séraphine - is thus evoked. All of them have one day set down their luggage in Paris, more or less briefly, and the capital's landscapes have thus come to inhabit their works. Louis Vivin and Jean Eve, for example, both depicted the Sacré-Coeur and its surroundings in Montmartre.
View of the exhibition "The wonderful world of the Naïves Painters" at the Jiushi Art Museum from August 1st to November 12, 2023.
The natural landscape is not to be outdone either. In the course of the exhibition, we discover a mill by Rousseau, as well as Bauchant's imaginary landscapes filled with exotic birds. Vivin's hunting scenes and Peyronnet's maritime views are also on show, allowing visitors to discover the wealth of invention of these artists, who had no formal training in art.
View of the exhibition "The wonderful world of the Naïves Painters" at the Jiushi Art Museum from August 1st to November 12, 2023.
Vegetation is one of the most emblematic themes of naive representation, and there are some very fine examples of this in the exhibition, such as Bauchant's "Bouquet pour Dina", produced in 1957 and dedicated to Dina Vierny. But Séraphine de Senlis remains the most representative artist in this section, with her bouquets of plants tinged with mysticism.
View of the exhibition "The wonderful world of the Naïves Painters" at the Jiushi Art Museum from August 1st to November 12, 2023.
View of the exhibition "Bleu-Rouge-Jaune, the Palette of the Modern Naifs" with "Portrait de femme au bouquet de fleurs" by Henri Rousseau (second work on the left) at the Galerie Dina Vierny from 10 November 2022 to 4 February 2023.
The human figure also occupies an important place in the work of many naive artists. From portraits of loved ones or illustrious figures to historical or genre scenes, the exhibition shows the variety of subjects that were dear to the hearts of the various painters. The exhibition includes, for example, Portrait of a Woman with a Bouquet of Flowers, representing Henri Rousseau's first wife, painted at the very beginning of the 20th century and recently exhibited at the Galerie Dina Vierny.
René Rimbert, « Nature morte au jeu de cartes », 1930, Oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Séraphine Louis, « Orange et feuillage », circa 1920, Oil on wood panel, 19 x 24.3 cm
The final theme covered at the Jiushi Art Museum is still life. These range from Louis Vivin's, Jean Eve's and Camille Bombois's depictions of tablées garnished with luxurious dishes to works with a baroque allure, such as Rimbert's "Nature morte au jeu de cartes" (1930), which goes so far as to incorporate the idea of vanity. Séraphine depicts her fruit on a plain background, like botanical illustrations. This exhibition is therefore an invitation to travel back in time, to immerse oneself in the popular France of the early 20th century and to discover unique artistic universes. It will enable Chinese visitors to get closer to these visionary artists, to understand their creative process, and to feel the authenticity of their emotions transmitted through each brushstroke.
The natural landscape is not to be outdone either. In the course of the exhibition, we discover a mill by Rousseau, as well as Bauchant's imaginary landscapes filled with exotic birds. Vivin's hunting scenes and Peyronnet's maritime views are also on show, allowing visitors to discover the wealth of invention of these artists, who had no formal training in art.
The first exhibition dedicated to naïve artists in China will run from 1 August to 12 November 2023 at the Jiushi Art Museum in Shanghai. The Chinese public will have an unprecedented opportunity to discover nine of the greatest painters known as "Modern Primitives", most of whom were brought together and championed by the German aesthete Wilhelm Uhde. The exhibition includes works by André Bauchant, Camille Bombois, Ferdinand Desnos, Jean Eve, Dominique Peyronnet, René Rimbert, Henri Rousseau, Séraphine Louis and Louis Vivin.
Mainly on loan from the Galerie Dina Vierny and the Fondation Dina Vierny - Musée Maillol, this major exhibition entitled "Le monde merveilleux des peintres naïfs" features fifty-five works. The works are presented in five sections, comparing the artists and their visions of the world: "The Garden of Dreams", "The Lives of Others", "The Enchanted City", "Sunday Tables" and "Living Nature". Visitors can discover the favourite subjects of these artists, who had no formal training in the arts and no predisposition for painting. Often of modest origins, they had no access to an artistic education and therefore preferred, in the words of Dina Vierny, "the realm of instinct to the universe of knowledge". Often naturally solitary, these painters were able to develop their imaginations and convey them in visually simple yet sensitive and sincere ways. The theme of the cityscape - a subject common to all the artists mentioned except Séraphine - is thus evoked. All of them have one day set down their luggage in Paris, more or less briefly, and the capital's landscapes have thus come to inhabit their works. Louis Vivin and Jean Eve, for example, both depicted the Sacré-Coeur and its surroundings in Montmartre.
The natural landscape is not to be outdone either. In the course of the exhibition, we discover a mill by Rousseau, as well as Bauchant's imaginary landscapes filled with exotic birds. Vivin's hunting scenes and Peyronnet's maritime views are also on show, allowing visitors to discover the wealth of invention of these artists, who had no formal training in art.
View of the exhibition "The wonderful world of the Naïves Painters" at the Jiushi Art Museum from August 1st to November 12, 2023.
Vegetation is one of the most emblematic themes of naive representation, and there are some very fine examples of this in the exhibition, such as Bauchant's "Bouquet pour Dina", produced in 1957 and dedicated to Dina Vierny. But Séraphine de Senlis remains the most representative artist in this section, with her bouquets of plants tinged with mysticism.
View of the exhibition "The wonderful world of the Naïves Painters" at the Jiushi Art Museum from August 1st to November 12, 2023.
View of the exhibition "Bleu-Rouge-Jaune, the Palette of the Modern Naifs" with "Portrait de femme au bouquet de fleurs" by Henri Rousseau (second work on the left) at the Galerie Dina Vierny from 10 November 2022 to 4 February 2023.
The human figure also occupies an important place in the work of many naive artists. From portraits of loved ones or illustrious figures to historical or genre scenes, the exhibition shows the variety of subjects that were dear to the hearts of the various painters. The exhibition includes, for example, Portrait of a Woman with a Bouquet of Flowers, representing Henri Rousseau's first wife, painted at the very beginning of the 20th century and recently exhibited at the Galerie Dina Vierny.
René Rimbert, « Nature morte au jeu de cartes », 1930, Oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm
Séraphine Louis, « Orange et feuillage », circa 1920, Oil on wood panel, 19 x 24.3 cm
The final theme covered at the Jiushi Art Museum is still life. These range from Louis Vivin's, Jean Eve's and Camille Bombois's depictions of tablées garnished with luxurious dishes to works with a baroque allure, such as Rimbert's "Nature morte au jeu de cartes" (1930), which goes so far as to incorporate the idea of vanity. Séraphine depicts her fruit on a plain background, like botanical illustrations. This exhibition is therefore an invitation to travel back in time, to immerse oneself in the popular France of the early 20th century and to discover unique artistic universes. It will enable Chinese visitors to get closer to these visionary artists, to understand their creative process, and to feel the authenticity of their emotions transmitted through each brushstroke.