The Art Brut definition is “raw art” in French and refers to art that is naïve, primitive, or even crude in style created by artists outside of the academic tradition of fine art and is also known as Outsider Art.
Jean Dubuffet, who invented the term Art Brut in the 1940s, defined Art Brut as including art made by mentally ill patients, graffiti artists, children, spiritualists, convicts, and primitive artists.
Artworks made by those with uninhibited or fragile mental states inspired Jean Dubuffet in creating the Art Brut movement, and in doing so helped to dissolve the stigma surrounding mental illness.
Jean Dubuffet found that academic training overshadowed fine art and restricted it from flowing freely. By abandoning tradition and society’s values, Art Brut aimed to create works that did not conform to other movements.
Henri Rousseau was a self-taught French artist who came to play an important part in naïve art. Modern artists saw in his work the beauty of simplicity.
Alfred Wallis was a self-taught British artist who painted seascapes and shipping scenes in an expressive manner using multiple perspectives. A fisherman and mariner, Wallis only started painting when he was 70 years old.
Niko Pirosmani was a self-taught artist from Georgia and through his art, documented the lifestyle, culture, traditions, environments, and customs native to this developing country.