Naïve art reflects Brazilian love of sport
An exhibition of naïve art at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne demonstrates Brazil's exuberant love of sport.
The exhibition is entitled: “Playing with Colour: Sport through the eyes of Brazilian naïve artists”.
The artists whose works are on display include a housewife, a policeman, a train driver and a typist. All have one thing in common: a passion for painting without having formally studied it.
As well as the sporting themes, all also use wonderfully vibrant colours, employing what the French poet, Guillaume Apollinaire, called the “wonderfully meticulous clumsiness” typical of naïve art.
Given Brazil’s love of sport, it’s little wonder that many of these naïve artists have chosen archetypal Brazilian pastimes like football, capoeira (a dance form similar to martial art) and beach volleyball as their subjects. But other sports – sailing, swimming, horse-riding – are also represented.
The works have been lent by Brazil’s International Museum of Naïve Art in Rio de Janeiro. Considered to be the finest museum of naïve art in the world, it houses 8,000 canvases from all over the world, dating back to the 15th century.
The exhibition runs until March 10, 2002.
By Roy Probert
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