Lazar Obican, Naive European French Folk Art Jovan Lazar Obican Tapestry Wall Hanging Weaving, 1968

Lazar Obican 1944-2004
Tapestry, mixed media applique on woven background
Taking The Bird Away, Folk Art,
Dimensions: H 80 cm (32.25 in.) x W 58 cm (23in.)

The artist Lazar Obican iconic style is child-like yet masterfully adult; a style that tells a story with sociological overtones. His funny little people are always colorful, full of spirit, living with music and birds to bring them happiness. This is not an aubusson style but a pieced applique, quilt like style on a wool woven background. Mid century modern textile art.

Lazar Obican artist, painter, sculpture and mod mosaic ceramic artisan was born in Cannes, France, to his Yugoslavian family. He finished his training, imbued with the spirit of his native country, the people, their legends, and their philosophy. It has been said that his work has a “timeless quality” and a naive, folk art, outsider art brut quality, child-like primitive style. Obican is identified with his style the world over, a style that is simple yet sophisticated; child-like yet masterfully adult; a style that tells a story with psychological, philosophical or sociological overtones. His funny little people are always colorful, full of spirit, living with music and birds to bring them happiness. Best known for his depictions of folklore and traditional costumes rendered in a playful, childlike style and for his happy Jewish wedding scenes. He often used bright colors and black outlines in his renderings of figures and animals, giving his work an illustration-like quality. Thematically, the artist’s work is similar to Marc Chagall and Jean Dubuffet for its dreamlike images and so-called naïve style of painting. Over the course of his career, the artist maintained a studio in Boca Raton, Florida and Dubrovnik, Croatia—part of former Yugoslavia— where he developed an interest in Eastern Europe’s Jewish culture. Many of his mature works depict Jewish traditions and ceremonies, including traditional Jewish weddings, the dancing of the Hora, and traditional music. There is a display of his works in his former Dubrovnik studio.
His style is a unique conglomerate of tradition, history, legends, heroes, old customs and folklore. It is a self-standing style, recognizable, cheerful, whimsical and a happy creation. Naïve art is any form of visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). Unlike folk art, naïve art does not necessarily evince a distinct cultural context or tradition. Naïve art is recognized, and often imitated, for its childlike simplicity and frankness. Paintings of this kind typically have a flat rendering style with a rudimentary expression of perspective.
One particularly influential painter of “naïve art” was Henri Rousseau (1844–1910), a French Post-Impressionist who was discovered by Pablo Picasso. Naïve art is often seen as outsider art that is by someone without formal (or little) training or degree. While this was true before the twentieth century, there are now academies for naïve art. Naïve art is now a fully recognized art genre, represented in art galleries worldwide.
Museums devoted to naïve art now exist in Kecskemét, Hungary; Riga, Latvia; Jaen, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brasil; Vicq France and Paris. “Primitive art” is another term often applied to art by those without formal training, but is historically more often applied to work from certain cultures that have been judged socially or technologically “primitive” by Western academia, such as Native American, sub saharan African or Pacific Island art (see Tribal art). This is distinguished from the self-conscious, “primitive” inspired movement primitivism. Another term related to (but not completely synonymous with) naïve art is folk art. There also exist the terms “naïvism” and “primitivism” which are usually applied to professional painters working in the style of naïve art (like Paul Gauguin, Mikhail Larionov, Paul Klee).
At all events, naive art can be regarded as having occupied an “official” position in the annals of twentieth-century art since – at the very latest – the publication of the Der Blaue Reiter, an almanac in 1912. Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, who brought out the almanac, presented 6 reproductions of paintings by le Douanier’ Rousseau (Henri Rousseau), comparing them with other pictorial examples. However, most experts agree that the year that naive art was “discovered” was 1885, when the painter Paul Signac became aware of the talents of Henri Rousseau and set about organizing exhibitions of his work in a number of prestigious galleries. The Earth Group (Grupa Zemlja) were Croatian artists, architects and intellectuals active in Zagreb from 1929 to 1935. The group included the painters Krsto Hegedušić, Edo Kovačević, Omer Mujadžić, Kamilo Ružička, Ivan Tabaković, and Oton Postružnik, the sculptors Antun Augustinčić, Frano Kršinić, and the architect Drago Ibler. A term applied to Yugoslav (Croatian) naive painters working in or around the village of Hlebine, near the Hungarian border, from about 1930. Some of the best known naive artists are Dragan Gaži, Ivan Generalić, Josip Generalić, Krsto Hegedušić, Mijo Kovačić, Ivan Lacković-Croata, Franjo Mraz, Ivan Večenaj and Mirko Virius. Camille Bombois (1883–1970) Ferdinand Cheval, known as ‘le facteur Cheval’ (1836–1924) Henry Darger (1892–1973) L. S. Lowry (1887–1976) Grandma Moses, Anna Mary Robertson (1860–1961) Nikifor (1895–1968) Poland, Horace Pippin (1888–1946) Jon Serl (1894-1993) United States Alfred Wallis (1855–1942) Scottie Wilson (1890–1972) Gesner Abelard (b. 1922) Jan Balet (1913–2009) Michel Delacroix (b. 1933) France Howard Finster (1916–2001) Ivan Rabuzin (1921–2008)
Spontaneous Art Museum in Brussels
Art en Marge Museum in Brussels
MADmusée in Liege
International Museum of Naive Art of Brazil in Cosme Velho, Rio de Janeiro
Gallery Jacques Ardies in São Paulo
Musée international d’art naïf de Magog in Magog
Croatian Museum of Naïve Art in Zagreb
Gallery of Croatian Naïve Art in Zagreb
Croatian Naive Art Museum in Hlebine
Musée international d’Art naïf Anatole Jakovsky in Nice
Musée d’Art Naïf – Max Fourny in Paris
International Museum of Naive Art in Vicq (near Versailles)
Museum of Naive Art in Beraut (near Toulouse)
Museum Charlotte Zander in Bönnigheim
Gesellschaft für Naive Kunst in Hannover
Museum of Hungarian Naive Artists in Kecskemét
Gallery of International Naïve Art (GINA) in Tel Aviv
Naive Art Museum in Moscow
Collection of naïve and outsider art of Dr. X. Bogucharskaia and A.Turchin
Anthony Petullo Collection of Self-Taught & Outsider Art
American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD
His legion of fans and collectors include American presidents, senators, ambassadors, film stars and European nobility. His one man shows in New York City galleries were quite popular amongst the “Who’s Who” of the time. Alfred Hitchcock bought seven of his works and Frank Sinatra, Stewart Granger and Mickey Rooney were among his many high profile patrons.