Who we are
We are a society interested in naive art that was named after one of the most important naïve sculptors - Erich Bödeker (1904-1971). Founded in 1982, we just celebrate our 30th anniversary. We think that naïve art should be considered part of modern and contemporary art, and that authentic naive artists should find their place in the history of art like professional artists.
Unfortunately, up to now official art criticism and art museums particularly in Germany accept only reluctantly the naive art or even simply ignore it.

What we want
For more than 30 years we deal in-depth with the works of naive art and its artists. Much has brought discredit to naive art: would-be naivety, excessive and inappropriate popularization and commercialization, appropriation by ideologies as well as for decorative and promotional purposes. Since the differences between naive art and other areas of art such as people's art, hobby painting, children's art or art of the mentally sick are rather narrow, it seems important to foster clarification and help to sharpen the uniqueness of naive art.

What we do
We have established a documentation centre for naive art. We also maintain an extensive library on naive art and have created a list of works of Erich Bödeker. Furthermore, we organised some exhibitions on Erich Bödeker and other subjects like "Exemplary Naive Art in Europe" (Itzehoe/Germany 1987), "Naive Art in the Ruhr Area" (Oberhausen 2000). Still we are planning some more exhibition projects. Because of our experience, our library and many experts who are members of our society we are even able to survey naive works and identify frauds.
We are glad to provide our expertise helping to identify naive paintings. Finally, we offer assistance by giving information on exhibitions and scientific literature.