5 Famous Self-Taught Painters

People have made art since time immemorial, without ideal tools or formal training, but mention a "self-taught painter" today and you are likely to be met with sideways looks. In truth, art as an academic discipline was only born in the 17th century, together with the Académie Française, which established certain standards. From then on, the importance of the academy only grew for a good century, until finally, in the 19th century, painters emerged who began to rebel, because the academy, while it trained professionals, held back progress — human creativity cannot be confined within any framework. So some brilliant painters were never accepted into art academies, others were expelled from them, and still others never even tried to get in, because they only took up painting later in life.

But the idea that you can enter art history even without finishing an academy, having started painting only in the second half of your life, is deeply inspiring and liberating, so we now invite you to read the stories of five self-taught painters.

Henri Rousseau

Henri Rousseau, "Myself: Portrait–Landscape", 1890, Wikimedia Commons

Henri Rousseau grew up in the era of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, but he received no artistic education at all, since he only began painting in 1884, at the age of 40, having worked as a clerk until then — which is why critics, skeptical of his naïve, unprofessional art, gave him the nickname Le Douanier ("the customs officer"). On the other hand, it is thought that his undemanding job (since he in fact never actually worked as a customs officer) gave him the opportunity to learn to paint; whenever he wasn't shuffling papers, he would travel to the Louvre and sketch the paintings on display there.

Other artists valued Rousseau's simplicity, the unpretentiousness of his work — something you could never say about academic standards. Famous for his exotic landscapes, the painter created dreamlike scenes with clear outlines. Later, these works were greatly loved by the Surrealists, who likewise sought to convey the reality of dreams. By the end of his life, his works were being exhibited alongside those of van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, and collected by Pablo Picasso himself, who was his greatest admirer. Not bad, right?

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, "Self-Portrait as a Painter", 1887–1888, Van Gogh Museum

One of the most influential of the modernists had a difficult character and disliked the classroom. He was taught by his mother and the family governess, formal education was a struggle for him, but eventually, at 16, Vincent became an assistant to an art dealer.

When he grew tired of that too, he tried to enter a seminary to become a pastor, but failed the entrance exam. He then spent six months at a missionary school and, in 1879, obtained a missionary post. His brother Theo, who dealt in art, saw Vincent's sketches and encouraged him to keep drawing. Vincent tried to enroll at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, but without success.

Once his money ran out, he returned home and continued teaching himself to draw, working day and night. He studied Japanese woodblock prints and the works of his modernist contemporaries, but perhaps because no one ever formally taught him, he developed a highly individual style — his energetic brushstrokes and vivid, pure colors, which opened the painter's eyes in the south of France, were, in their time, a great innovation and an inspiration for generations to come.

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo's father, a German photographer, noticed his daughter's talent for the arts early on and began teaching her photography, as well as asking a friend to teach her the art of printmaking. When the young artist exceeded all her teacher's expectations, he even offered her a paid apprenticeship in his engraving studio. Even so, Frida herself was more drawn to studying medicine. Unfortunately, at eighteen she was involved in a tragic tram accident, and all those hopes collapsed.

While she recovered from the accident, a process that took many months, an easel with a mirror was made for Frida so that she could watch herself while painting. Observing her own anatomy, she began painting self-portraits and gradually discovered her own distinctive style. Frida was drawn less to illustration than to self-expression. She combined modern discoveries in form with Mexican folk tradition. Frida's work revealed that folk art could hold a powerful alternative to the academic tradition.

Paul Gauguin

Paul Gauguin did not begin painting until he was about thirty. Before that, he had been highly successful as a stockbroker. Interestingly, once he began painting he achieved recognition almost immediately — one of his early paintings was exhibited at the official Paris Salon, and from then on he took part in Impressionist exhibitions, associating with Paul Cézanne (who had a major influence on him and was always afraid Gauguin would steal his talent) and Camille Pissarro (the two of them enjoyed painting each other's portraits). When the Impressionist movement came to an end and it became clear it had no future, he left for Panama, where he worked on the digging of the canal and painted. Unfortunately, due to the island's climate he fell ill with malaria and dysentery and was sent home to France. There he abandoned Impressionist painting entirely.

Traveling to Arles, he worked alongside van Gogh, whom he greatly admired and encouraged to paint more from memory and imagination, but the visit, however inspiring, ended with severed ears.

A couple of years later, at forty-three, the painter left for Tahiti, where he created works inspired by the authenticity of local life. Life on the remote island colored his work with radiant hues, his canvases showing local people and a naturally decorative landscape. In 2015, the painter's work "When Will You Marry?" sold for what was at the time the highest price ever paid for a painting.

Paul Gauguin, "When Will You Marry?", 1892, Wikimedia Commons

Kazys Šimonis

Few would guess that one of the most famous Lithuanian painters, Kazys Šimonis, was also self-taught. Although he studied art under Adomas Varnas and at various art schools, he never finished any of them. The painter's works carry viewers into a world of fairy tales, legends and songs; like the modernists mentioned above, his work was strongly shaped by folk art. He disliked plein-air painting and valued imagination far more.

Unlike the paintings of Gauguin or Frida Kahlo, many of K. Šimonis's paintings can be found in Lithuanian homes, and anyone wishing to acquire one can do so at a relatively accessible price. You can see the painter's works HERE.