In the arts of the Western World, Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that means to recreate the experience of the primitive time, place, and person, either by emulation or by re-creation. In Western philosophy, Primitivism proposes that the people of a primitive society possess a morality and an ethics that are superior to the urban value system of civilized people.
In a Tropical Forest Combat of a Tiger and a Buffalo (1908–1909), by Henri Rousseau
The stylistic influences of the African mask of the Fang people are noticeable in the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), by Pablo Picasso.
Spirit of the Dead Watching (1892), by Paul Gauguin
In the painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) the two figures at the right indicate the stylistic origin of Pablo Picasso's African period
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influential practitioner of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms. While only moderately successful during his lifetime, Gauguin has since been recognized for his experimental use of color and Synthetist style that were distinct from Impressionism.
Aline Marie Chazal Tristán, (1825–1867) "The Artist's Mother", 1889, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Gauguin's maternal grandmother, Flora Tristan (1803–1844) in 1838
Gauguin with his wife Mette in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1885
Study of a Nude (Suzanne sewing), 1880, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek