Julian Woods

Primitivism in Modernism

By Julian Woods

Unpublished 2011 ©

Many artists of the early twentieth century affiliate with art of ‘primitive’

or non-Western culture, primarily of Africa or Oceania. Henri Matisse and Pablo

Picasso integrated the stylized aesthetic of the human form in African and Oceanic

sculpture with painting styles derived from post-impressionist works of Cezanne

and Gauguin. Similarly, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, of the German Expressionist

movement, combined ‘primitive’ art with the Expressionists’ aesthetic, discordant

colour tones and figural exaggeration. In essence, it was the avant-garde artist

groups of Europe who were associated with the trend. In their view, ‘primitivism’

would move art beyond naturalism and ‘focus on conception and stylized emotion

rather than renderings of what [is seen]’ and hence, the primitive influence

‘reinforced and nurtured’ changes which were occurring.1 In addition to the

aesthetic form, ‘primitive’ objects reflected how humanity had ‘transcended the

particular lives and times of their makers’ which the avant-garde artists felt

connection and great mysticism.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, a mass import of African and Oceanic

fabrics and sculptures entered European museums and markets. Basically, this

was due to colonisation of the African continent and Oceania by European

empires, primarily Great Britain and France and, to little extent Germany and Italy.

It was in museums, such as Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, where artists,

dealers and critics viewed ‘primitive’ artefacts for artistic inspiration. It was said

by Picasso after visiting the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro that he

‘understood his purpose as a painter.’2

1 (Ferris 2010)2 (Murrell 2008)

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Pablo Picasso’s 1907 painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, can be assessed as, not

only an aesthetic breakthrough, but a ‘breakdown, psychologically regressive,

politically reactionary’ of Western cultures clash with the ‘primitive’. As Foster

presents in his essay “Primitve” Unconscious of western art:

the painting presents… two scenes: the depicted one of the brothel

and the projected one of the heralded 1907 visit of Picasso to the

collection of tribal artifacts in the Musée d'Ethnographie du

Trocadéro.3

Additionally, correlation with Iberian faces of the two central figures and

simplified human figures affiliate with Spanish historical past and

therefore, associate ‘Picasso’s origins and preoccupations as outside (and

against) the French classical tradition.’4 This inherent centrifugal

aspiration of Western art and society, by integration of the ‘primitive,’

was the intent of avant-garde artists, seeking to move from convention

and naturalism and towards abstraction and stylized emotion.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was painted shortly after Picasso’s visit to

Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro where,

[Picasso] responded with intense emotion to a magical force he

sensed in the objects.... He regretted that western tradition had

lost touch with the primordial sense of image-making as a

magic operation.5

Consequently, Picasso was attracted to the ‘primitive’ objects and began to create

imagery reflective of the ‘magical force’ he experienced. In Les Demoiselles

3 (Foster 1985)4 (Leighton 1990)5 (Primitivism in 20th Century Art 1984)

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d’Avignon, the main imagery represented is African tribal masks and ancient

Iberian art.

The ‘primitive’ African influence in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, according

to Patricia Leigh, intends to avert from the conventional female nude

towards a ‘new, staggering violence [against Western art].’ Leigh suggests

the ‘violence’ comes not only as an aesthetic of ‘distorted faces and

forms’ and ‘transformation of… passive nudes… into aggressively… mock

temptresses’ but also an allusion to the ‘dark continent unavoidably

carried with them.’6 The aversion which Leighton affiliates with the

African masks is perhaps a perceived cultural clash between the Western

and ‘primitive’ cultures, as when Picasso first exhibited Les Demoiselles

d’Avignon amongst friends, their reception was shock and disgust.

However, the African masks incorporate a mystical and tribal presence

into the painting, emulating the sexual intent of Picasso. But perhaps the

greatest contribution was the aesthetic integration of the African masks,

creating a three dimensional image on a two dimension plane and

simplifying the form.

A visual similarity of the human form can be identified between Picasso’s Les

Demoiselles d’Avignon and Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian Women Bathing, 1892.

Gauguin’s work had assimilated the art style of the ‘primitive’ Oceanic cultures,

which inherently influenced Picasso’s compositional style. The flatness of form

and lack of perspective are principal features of modern art and used throughout

the twentieth century by avant-garde artists as a way of breaking the previous

naturalistic style. However, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon demonstrates a greater

adaption of ‘primitivism’ through the geometrically deformed and radically

distorted human figures by partial shifting of viewpoint (most notably visible on

the bottom right squatted female)7 essentially influenced by the African ritual

6 (Leighton 1990)7 (Green 2001)

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masks, such as the Fang Mask. Picasso’s fascination with African masks, as William

Rubin states in his 1984 MOMA “Primitvism” in Twentieth Century Art, Affinity of

the Tribal and the Modern introduction:

there is a link; for what Picasso recognized in those sculptures was

ultimately a part of himself, of his own psyche, and therefore a

witness to the humanity he shared with their carvers.8

Perhaps this empathetic view and the easily accessible ‘primitive’ art created the

affinity, defined by Rubin, between Western and ‘primitive’ art in the early

twentieth century. Conversely, it was most likely a purely aesthetic and spiritual

attraction between the Western artists and ‘primitive’ objects.

Similar to Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon , Henri Matisse’s work La

Danse II, 1910 utilised ‘primitive’ art as an aesthetic. However, the primitive

element of La Danse II does not, like Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, suggest a clash of

cultures; it is instead a harmonized composition of celebration and unity. A The

thematic depiction of the nude body is representative of classical painting, yet is

portrayed in a style similar to that of ancient Athenian frescos and pottery or

‘primitive’ Mediterranean cultures. Perhaps Matisse’s incentive to stylistically

characterize the nude human form in the ‘primitive’ was to portray a translation

from modern society to another. As Schwarz says:

Dance II is about the effort to escape from the turmoil – the hope

and fears – of this world to an idealized one… It is a story of

movement, primitive ritualized movement, and of escape from the

diurnal world to an aesthetic realm where dancing is perpetual and

sensuality and passions renew themselves in their very

enactment.9

8 (Rubin 1984)9 (Schwarz 1997)

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Essentially, Schwarz comments that Dance II reflects a transition from one ‘world’

into another. The ‘escape’ may translate two ways, in terms of modern society, or

in terms of artistic style and is represented through the theme of dance and

integration of a ‘primitive’ aesthetic.

The primitive nature of Dance II is not just in form, but also in theme. Matisse had

viewed African ritual masks in Paris’ museums and markets and perhaps had seen

a ritual while on his journey in Morocco in 1906. Unlike Picasso’s Les Demoiselles

d’Avignon, Matisse saw the masks as more philosophically symbolic than visually

representational. Matisse’s aim, mentioned in Notes of a Painter, 1908, ‘was to

discover “the essential character of things” and produce an “art of balance, purity

and serenity.”’10 The work constitutes a primal dance scene of free flowing circle

of bodies, ‘infusing the ancient classical tradition of the Mediterranean with the

"primitive" energy of masks and rough-hewn tribal sculptures’.11 The integration of

the two ‘primitive’ elements in context of modern society creates a work of

‘balance, purity and serenity’.

Schwarz suggests, Dance II is a ‘search for lines and colour’. There is no

indication of the direction of the circle and the lobster-vermillion colour

‘suggests humankinds’ pre-crustacean antecedents,’12 though more likely

is the influence of ‘primitive’ Athenian pottery. Dance II, similar in

composition and theme to Emil Nolde’s Dance around the Golden Calf,

1910 which is also representative of ‘primitivism’ in the sense of energy

and ritualistic style, explores freedom of colour and expression of form

are communicated as a creation of new visual language. The composition

of both works, flamboyant and ‘ritualized movement,’ can be understood

as the artists’ fascination with what the ‘essential character’ of African

ritual mask is.

10 (Dabrowski 2004)11 (Jones 2008)12 (Schwarz 1997)

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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s work, Bathers in a Room, 1908 utilised the

aesthetic of the ‘primitive’ as well as the sexual connotations, similar to Les

Demoiselles d’Avignon. Kirchner spent much time at the Ethnological Museum in

Dresden, the home of his avant-garde group Die Brucke or literally ‘the bridge,’

and viewed primitive objects. Kirchner, whom was explicitly sexual, ‘became

fascinated by beam friezes of bachelor houses from Palau.’13 Essentially, it was the

‘primitive’ sexual desire and lust which Kirchner became obsessed with as it was

not displayed so overtly in Western art.

In Bathers in a Room, Kirchner was concerned with the nude both as a symbol of

‘primitive’ associations and as a problematic image in the history of

representation. Consequently, the female form is treated in a similar way to Les

Demoiselles d’Avignon and The Dance II, a flattened and abstracted form is utilised

influenced by the art of ‘primitive’ cultures. ‘Additionally the female nudes in

Bathers in a Room are ‘totemic in their angular appearance and squat

proportions’ being influenced by wood carving techniques in ‘primitive’

sculptures14. The sexuality of the image is emphasized by the exaggeration of

human features such as the eyes, mouth, breasts and genitals15 and is perhaps

intended to promote the primal nature of a ‘woman’s naked body’ which Kirchner

believed in. The naked body represented a ‘socially revolutionary act as well as a

return to origins’ which provided a philosophical and cultural significance to

‘primitive’ art16 and a subject matter used by the avant-garde artists. It can be

seen that there is an affinity between the ‘primitive’ and the nude. “Kirchner filled

his studios with related images figures sitting, squatting, and lying, viewed from

the rear, bordered by animal images and primitivistic sculptures.”17

13 (Foster, "Primitive" Scenes 1993)14 Wood-cut sculptures were also a prominent work by Kirchner in reflection of ‘primitivism.’15 (Miall 2003)16 It is said that ‘primitive’ or non-Western art is seen as backwards compared to the Western artists.17 (Foster, "Primitive" Scenes 1993)

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Moreover, the composition of Bathers in a Room is fundamental in the

understanding of ‘primitivism’ in modern art. The indoors set explicitly indicates a

break from the traditional nature and nude setting. However it is through this

setting that Kirchner demonstrates primitive influence in the ‘brightly coloured

curtains, rug and primitive figures on the door jamb are influenced by African and

Oceanic Artefacts… notably the beams from Palau’.18 It is by means of the indoors

setting that Kirchner creates a frenzied and energetic state of sexualisation,

possibly an explicit affiliation with ’primitive’ art, but also creates a sense of

authenticity and affinity with the viewer.

Kirchners’ association with the avant-garde group Die Brucke, or ‘The Bridge’, had

also contributed to the ‘primitive’ influence of Bathers in a Room. Die Brucke,

according to Schmidt-Rottluf, was intended to signify "the bridge which would

attract all the revolutionary and surging elements." Nina Miall suggests that the

Bridge looked on ‘primitive’ art as a naïve escape in the complex world of the

twentieth century19, similar to the view of Matisse. Essentially, this vanguard view

meant that the work of Kirchner was to explicitly utilise radical and contemporary

ideas, one being the use of ‘primitivism’. Furthermore, the expanding

ethnography in Dresden evidenced by ‘exotic’ culture shows in 1909 provided

close affiliation with ‘primitive’ art.

In summary, the artists of the early twentieth century, most prominently

the avant-garde, saw inspiration within and were fascinated by ‘primitive’ art.

Modernist artists aspired to create a new visual imagery and hence integrated an

affinity with the spiritual, cultural, philosophical and/or aesthetic of ‘primitive’ art.

It was noted by William Rubin in the, 1984, MOMA Primitivism in 20th Century Art

that the interest in ‘primitive’ art by these early vanguard artists "had to do

18 (Mahon 2005)19 (Miall 2003)

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with a fundamental shift in the nature of most vanguard art from styles

rooted in visual perception to others based on conceptualization."20 In effect,

the artists were seeking to break the boundaries of the past and project a new

vision for art.

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Dabrowski, Magdalena. "Henri Matisse (1869–1954)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, October 2004.

Ferris, Jaime. "Primitive Art and Its Influence on 20th-Century Modernism." Housatonic Times, April 2, 2010.

Foster, Hal. ""Primitive" Scenes." Critical Inquiry (University of Chicago Press) 20, no. 1 (1993): 69-102.

Foster, Hal. "The "Primitive" Unconcious of Modern Art." The MIT Press (The MIT Press) 34, no. Autumn (October 1985): 45-70.

Green, Christopher. "Introduction." In Picasso's Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, by Christopher Green, 1-11. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2001.

Jones, Jonathan. "Why this is the most beautiful modern painting in the world." The Guardian, January 19, 2008.

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Mahon, Alyce. "Primitive Drives: German Expressionism." In Eroticism and Art, by Alyce Mahon, 91-94. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

20 (Rubin 1984)

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Miall, Nina. "Kirchner: Expressionism and the City, Dresden and Berlin 1905-1918." Royal Academy of Arts, June 2003.

Murrell, Denise. "African Influences in Modern Art." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2008.

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Prevots, Naima. "Zurich Dada and Dance: Formative Ferment." Edited by University of Illinois Press. Dance Research Journal 17, no. 1 (1985): 6.

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Rubin, William. Primitivism in 20th Century Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1984.

Schwarz, Daniel R. "Matisse's Contribution to the Modernist Aesthetic." In Reconfiguring modernism: explorations in the relationship between modern art and modern literature, by Daniel R. Schwarz, 148-177. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1997.

Trachtma, Paul. "Matisse & Picasso." Smithsonian, 2003.

Voorhies, James. "Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)." Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, October 2004 .

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