For many, the term “naïve art” conjures up the verdant valleys and happy hamlets of Anna Mary Robertson (”Grandma”) Moses, the luxuriant vegetation and exotic jungles of Henri Rousseau, and the palmy South Sea Isles and pristine Tahitian women of Paul Gauguin. Brazilians identify naïve art with the fascinatingly colorful figures of Ivonaldo, the folkloristic motifs of Rosina Becker do Valle and the insightful Biblical interpretations of Jose de Freitas. Eastern European naïve art is associated with the powerful village scenes of Ivan Generalic and the floral farmlands of Ivan Rabuzin. In Israel, we recall the rich Biblical scenes and Cabalistic imagery of the Safed zeigermacher (watchmaker), Shalom Moscovitz, lovingly known as “Shalom of Z’fat,” revel in the anachronistic phantasmagoria of Gabriel Cohen, and take delight in the brilliant compositions of Odessa by Yefim Ladizhinsky.  Naïve art is characterized by a refreshing innocence and the charming use of bright colors, child-like perspective and idiosyncratic scale. It portrays simple, easily-understandable and often idealized scenes of everyday life. The naïve artist - often self-taught - treats us to a uniquely literal, yet extremely personal and coherent, vision of what the world was, is or should be. It offers us, often in painstaking detail, a timeless and optimistic depiction of an ancient story or Biblical tale, an ordinary occurrence or current event, a special ceremony or daily activity. The naïve painting bustles with color and excitement, brims with wry humor and candor, bubbles with unbridled empathy and love.  by Dan Chill