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Home » Articles » Drawings by the naive painter known as 'A Welsh Primitif'Drawings by the naive painter known as 'A Welsh Primitif'
A set of 22 drawings of views in north Cardiganshire, c. 1840, probably by the Aberystwyth naive painter known as 'A Welsh Primitif' [sic.].
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Naive painters were mostly self-taught artists who painted directly on the canvas without preliminary sketches or studies. They often concentrated on the depiction of animals, people, and man-made objects.
This anonymous naive painter, known as 'A Welsh Primitif', worked mainly in the Aberystwyth area, and his interest in the everyday lives of ordinary people is shown in paintings such as 'A Fountain near Aberystwyth'.
This artist was also interested in the landscape and was influenced by the picturesque. This was unusual for a naive painter and makes his work particularly fascinating. According to Peter Lord, they are to be considered 'masterpieces of naive painting'.
Peter Lord also finds, in the paintings, clues to the identity of the artist. In the foreground of the painting, 'Fall on the Rheidol', there is an artist in a blue coat at work. If this is taken to be a self-portrait then the artist was a man.
[Based on 'Gwenllian: Essays on visual culture', by Peter Lord, 1994, pp. 87-88]
