New York Fairy Tales - Enchanted Naiveite of New York Scenes.

Georgio de Chirico said it best:” To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits… But once these barriers are broken, it will enter the realms of childhood visions and dreams.”

The key word here is childhood. Naïve art takes the ordinary and adds enchantment. It turns the reality of adulthood into the weightless joys of youth. Simply put, naïve art turns reality into something else, something better.

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This enchanting quality of Tina’s New York scenes is exactly what makes them so popular with the viewers. They have something from the classic American primitive, something sentimental and Romantic. The artist creates a magical space in place of a real city, a better fictional joyous place. There is real luminosity in it that enhances a fairy tale look. Windows are all lit, snow in the streets is pure and white, the sky above the city is filled with stars, the Grand Central is peaceful and not crowded with people rushing to get on the trains. It feels like the characters that populate Tina’s scenes come from her imagination and maybe from another era, purposely to enhance her point of view. She paints truly pastoral scenes full of joy, with perfect people in the perfect world. Very often she recreates the holiday spirit of New York, with Christmas trees full of lights and people engaged in leisure activities. Sometimes, it is the summertime with bright blue sky and perfectly green grass in Central Park.

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Tina uses very identifiable landmarks like the Grand Central, the Central Park, the Federal Hall, the Plaza Hotel, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Rockefeller Center, etc. but she romanticizes them, makes them pure and innocent as if we are looking at them through a child’s eyes. She is trying to catch a moment in time that is still fresh and ideal and to preserve it for our enjoyment.

 

Many great American artists like Childe Hassam, Reginald Marsh, John Sloan, painted New York scenes and these comparisons come to mind. However, Tina portrays a very different city – fresh and pure, innocent and childlike populated by happy people. Tina’s New York comes from her very being and her own unique spiritual nature