Primitivism is an artistic movement that looks to early human history and non-Western or children's art for inspiration and makes use of themes or stylistic elements from prehistory and tribal cultures. Paul Gauguin (painting) and early Igor Stravinsky (music) are two of the important representatives of this movement. A prime example of primitivism in music is Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, whose "Dyonysian" modernism he abandoned for a more "Apollonian" neo-classicism.
Last updated: 05-02-2005 01:30:34