Naive school of painting drew on reality

The common thread between these artists was that they were unrestrained by conventional rules in formal art training and had fearlessly defied the constraints of material, composition and visual logic. Ma adds that this group of artists simply followed their intuition and depicted the world as they perceived it, and this resulted in "unparalleled originality and uninhibited creativity".

Pablo Picasso, who once bought a painting from Rousseau for 5 francs in 1908, was among those who admired the unique approach of the naive artists, and this was encapsulated in his quote, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

Today, naive art is widely recognized as an indispensable chapter in modern art history.

The school began to emerge at the end of the 19th century, coming after the post-impressionists and before the fauvists.

"There is some similarity between the naive painters' flattened imagery and the Tahiti paintings of Paul Gauguin," Ma says. "We will also find in the works of later artists, such as Henri Matisse, traces of influence from the naive painters."

One of the best ways to introduce to audiences in China who do not know much about this school of painting is through thematic sections, says Susanna, who selected 55 paintings from the collection of the Musee Maillol and the Dina Vierny Foundation, both renowned for their collections of naive art in Paris.