The real strength of the self-taught artist, and of the naive artist at that, is that he knows how to disregard his professional world. Whether he’s a pastry chef, a teacher, a hairdresser or an office worker, he demonstrates an unexpected rebelliousness and freedom that gives rise to colorful, joyful works that are sometimes in total contradiction with the monotony and enslavement of his professional condition.

And can we really speak of enslavement? Doesn’t the naive artist find his true source of inspiration in his profession? Doesn’t he simply cease to be the obedient employee, manager or worker, and retain only his rigor, his “savoir faire”, the skills specific to his craft that enable him to become a creator?

No matter how much certain supposedly intellectual but ultimately conformist and often acerbic detractors of “Sunday painters” dislike them, the marvellous works of the twenty-eight naive artists on the walls of the Art naïf group once again this year provide dazzling proof that the artist’s work is compatible with a happy or unhappy professional past or present.

To discover the artists in this section, visit the virtual exhibition