Primitivism is a utopian idea that is distinctive for its reverse Teleology. The utopian end toward which primitivists aspire usually lies in a notional "state of nature" in which their ancestors existed (chronological … See more

Painter Paul Gauguin sought to escape European civilization and technology, taking up residence in the French colony of Tahiti and adopting a stripped-back lifestyle that he felt to be more natural than was possible in Europe.
Gauguin's search … See more

Although primitivism in art is usually regarded as a Western phenomenon, the structure of primitivist idealism can be found in the work of non-Western and especially anticolonial artists. The desire to recover a notional and idealized past in which humans had … See more

In November 1910, Roger Fry organized the exhibition titled Manet and the Post-Impressionists held at the Grafton Galleries in London. … See more

Primitivism gained a new impetus from anxieties about technological innovation but above all from the "Age of Discovery", which introduced the West to previously unknown peoples and opened the doors to colonialism. During the European Enlightenment, … See more

In 1905–06, a small group of artists began to study art from Sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania, in part because of the compelling works of Paul Gauguin that were gaining visibility in Paris. Gauguin's powerful posthumous retrospective exhibitions at the See more

Neo-primitivism was a Russian art movement that took its name from the 31-page pamphlet Neo-primitivizm, by Aleksandr Shevchenko (1913). It is considered a type of … See more