Nicaragua Primitive Art Solentiname

    There are only three countries in the world that have a primitive art movement. One is in Haiti, another is in Yugoslavia, the last is in Nicaragua. In the southern part of Nicaragua are a group of 26 islands in a province called Solentiname. A Catholic priest arriving there many years ago noticed locals painting on gourds and helped them move their inspirations to canvas. Local artists continue to paint and earn livings from this stylistic folk art. This room, at the San Francisco Convent Museo in Granada, is dedicated to the Nicaraguan primitive art movement that celebrates nature, community,order, and color. The works and artists, though different, all belong in this room. They work within a style that is larger than they are, an ocean that supports their boats. It is like the Garden of Eden calling you home. The intensity of the artist’s focus is like the eyes of a tiger watching you from inside it’s cage.