The Inspirers of a Modernist Artist Identity: Le Corbusier’s Relationship with Naive and African Art

This study takes as its starting point a painting by André Bauchant, a naïve painter who inspired the modernists, most notably architect Le Corbusier. Bauchant’s Bouquet Le Corbusier (1927), which features a large vase and the figures of Le Corbusier and his wife shrunk to the size of ants, was given to Le Corbusier as a gift. Bauchant was a gardener who served on the front lines during the First World War, and he did not start painting until reaching old age. In addition to André Bauchant Le Corbusier’s other favorite painter was the indigenous, self-taught African artist Kalifala Sidibé. Le Corbusier bought many of his paintings and even wrote a book about him. We know from contemporary photographs that Le Corbusier was attracted not only to naïve paintings but also to artists who lived natural lifestyles. Indeed, Le Corbusier regularly painted and drew nude in his home. Le Corbusier was searching for a way to return to a more natural and ecological orientation that diverged from the path that European civilization seemed to be taking. In this quest, he drew inspiration from many sources, and his home was very much like a Kunst- und Wunderkammer room that gathered together the works of naïve and indigenous painters, as well as seashells, snail shells, and prehistoric sculptures. In this paper, I examine one of the sources of Le Corbusier’s inspiration: his relationship with naïve artists. I explore the modern European artist and star architect’s relationship to autodidactic and African art, as well as his socio– and mental–historical background.