The primitivism debate and modern art

Abstract

Supposedly ‘primitive’ works of art in their various forms always had a great appeal in Western culture. Since the eighteenth century (and also before) there has been a consistent tendency in European Art and Literature to attribute superior virtue to primitive people. In this paper I will introduce first the notion of primitivism and the theoretical aspects presented by two American scholars, Arthur O. Lovejoy and George Boas who became the pioneers of the history and theorisation of primitivism when they published their seminal work on Classical literature and philosophy, Primitivism and Related Ideas in Antiquity, (1935).

I will also discuss the central question why modern artists turned to primitive art for inspiration. And I will be referring to the seminal work published by Robert Goldwater in 1938, Primitivism in Modern Art. Although Goldwater seemed to be more concerned

with the thematic approach, he stressed a common characteristic of primitivism in modern art, namely the search for ‘simplicity’. The controversial exhibition, “Primitivism” in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1984 helps us to understand better the difference between works created by the ‘primitives’ and the works made by modern artists within a different context. The ‘Primitive’ is not only found in modern art but also traced in other categories like the art of children, peasants, and the insane and even women.