Naive art, Henri Rousseau, and simple idea for having your favourite art on the wall

Wilson Bigaud, Girl with Peacocks

Naive Art

The label 'naive art' was coined by critics, a slightly condescending term to categorise the work of artists who didn't follow the common principles of anatomy, perspective, and technique. It is an art style recognisable for its almost childlike simplicity, showing a certain innocent yet very lively perspective on the world and its people, animals, landscapes, etc. With its dreamlike quality, naive art speaks to the imagination and to the heart.

In a time where professional painters were expected to work according to the rules of perspective, such as showing distance by making objects farther away smaller, less detailed, and less defined in colour, some exclusive souls headed their own way and made art of a different kind. One of the most prominent artists of the naive art form is Henri Rousseau (1844 - 1910), whose work found its way to some prestigious galleries in 1885. Since then, naive art has become a fully recognised art genre, now having its own schools and museums all over the world. However, there is something about those original works, those first artists breaking free from what they were 'supposed' to do, that has really captured my affection.

Henri Rousseau, The Wagon of Pere Juniet

How it started

There is a funny start to my interest in naive art. When we came back to our home after living abroad for one and a half years, we still had this empty wall that I wanted to decorate. And it was a big empty wall. As the ceiling is over 3 meters high in our home and the wall only had a couch with a rather low backseat sitting in front of it, we had a lot of space to fill. We tried putting up a piece of art made by a friend of ours, an artist from Amersfoort, John Konijn. From my impression, his work could be classified as a modern day expression of naive art, but who am I to tell? Here's an example of one of his paintings, downloaded from johnkonijn.nl:

John Konijn, Field Recordings

But however much I appreciate John Konijn's paintings, when we tried one at home it did not really match. I felt that having a single piece wouldn't work and decided I wanted to put up a collection, arrange multiple frames. Another friend of ours and photographer, Michael van Maanen, suggested finding a book with pictures from a favourite photographer, in order to take the photos out, frame them and put them on the wall. At his home, we went through a series of amazing photography books. A few of them I really liked and would have gotten started on taking out the pictures and framing them right then and there if the books had been mine. But, of course we had to go home and decide on which photographer's work to buy and we couldn't really choose.

At some point, I went to a bookstore in Rotterdam city centre hoping to find some work that would help me make up my mind. And the shop (De Slegte) had an upstairs area also, with second hand books. And there I found this book which was exactly what I was hoping for, even though I didn't know it ;). The moment I opened it I knew I would buy it. I kind of felt like a kid who's stumbled on a treasure box of candy, it was a moment of love at first sight.

Naieve Schilderkunst (1986), original title Primitive Painting

Filling the Emptiness

After taking the book back home, I started looking through it to find my favourite pieces. There were too many of them. Went to another store and got myself some basic materials for cutting and putting together. Then started a search for finding picture frames in second hand shops. I wanted a variety of frames, I wanted them to be wood, and I didn't want to pay too much so second hand seemed my best option. We went around different shops in the area, collecting a frame or two from every shop. And every time after coming home I'd go through my favourite images, try to find the best match between image and frame and put them together. I had a lot of fun with it.

Antonio Ligabue, Cat with a Chest

Josip Generalic, Sophia Loren

Jasmin Joseph, The Death of Adam

Niko Piromanasjvilli, Deer

Now we have a wall filled with my favourite naive art images, in frames we collected from around town. And of course, I'm sure not all of you will have the same taste as me or would have picked similar images, frames and composition. But all in all, looking back on this little project, I feel it is such a fun way to put together a very personal and original decoration for your home. Find the best book with your favourite art, whether photography or art genre, take out your favourite images, match them with frames of your liking. I'm sure its been done before a million times. If I can do it, it means it really isn't so hard, and you could do it too if you are looking for something new on your walls!

The End Result

There were a lot of amazing images I didn't even get to use yet. Below are a few of them stuffed into one pic, but still so many beautiful art from just that one book that I didn't get to show you!

But then finally, for the end result. Here's how the images are sitting together on that no longer empty wall:

More Craziness

Now once the wall was finished, I couldn't stop myself. I'm seeing opportunities everywhere ;). I went and found a piece of wood, some hooks and put together this DIY key holder.

Last but not least, just when my love for naive art was happening, my husband and I walked through a store and found him these coolest shorts printed with Henri Roussea's 'La Reve' (The Dream). I recognised the art immediately. What are the odds of that, right?

Apart from me going a little crazy on the topic, I hope you enjoyed this post! Thanks so much for reading, let me know about your own art favourites and DIY craftiness. Upvotes and follows much appreciated, and see you around on Steemit!