Femme portant des coupes, 1966 by Algerian artist Baya Mahieddine. We adore the artworks of self-taught artist Mahieddine. Orphaned at an impressionable age.
Baya was five years old when she was adopted by a French couple who encouraged her to cultivate her natural talent for painting and sculpting.
What we love about Baya's work is her ability to capture the diverse complexity of the Algerian/French/Arab/Berber culture. American art critics classify Baya’s work as naïve art. We were taught at university that naive art is art by self-taught artists who lack formal training.
Henri Rousseau falls under naïve art although he had a bit of formal training. It's time to re-define naïve art methinks. An art critic in New York once told us that naïve art is "primitive, childlike and innocent." A fellow art student some years ago told us that: naïve art means that the artist is unable to do better. Which leads us to the question - what does naive art means today? For further reading on Mahieddine Baya click HERE
