World’s Best Naïve Artists Named By America’s 25 Best Galleries: TOUARASS, BLUME, SUPPLE, SEO, TONDRA, GOURGOUILLAT, REGANATO, PRIMA, MAMIC, SALAD, KIM, DARABBEIGI & LI / 2021 AMERICAN ART AWARDS

7 min readOct 2, 2021

Each May the American Art Awards organization selects the 25 Best Galleries and Museums in America, then in autumn these revered art institutions vote on online art to decide the world’s best contemporary artists.

The 25 Best GALLERIES + MUSEUMS In America, 2021 — American Art AwardsAmerican Art Awards

The AAA board chooses only one gallery or museum per state per year. Among other criteria, selections are based on…

www.americanartawards.com

America’s Best Galleries & Museums scored almost 2,000 works in 50 categories from 64 countries.

Winners in Category 27 are from MOROCCO, GERMANY, USA, FRANCE, RUSSIA, CROATIA, GREAT BRITAIN, IRAN & CHINA.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: I typically use brilliant, vigorous colours and strong contrasts. Clear shapes and repetitive elements give a unique rhythm, unifying and separating fore- and background. The contours of the subject remain mostly naturalistic. Then I work intuitively… All of our perception is partial and fragmented but we can still create a meaningful whole.

After long years of working privately on her techniques and compositions and developing her own unique style the German artist Beate Blume decided to finally go public in 2016. She started exhibiting internationally in 2019. Beate as won a Solo exhibition with Art Show International in September 2021. She won a Merit Award in Gallery Rings’ ‘Animal’ show, 2021. She was awarded an Honorable Mention award by J Mane Gallery in the online “Colors 2021” exhibition, in Art Room’s ‘Life on Earth’ exhibition and Honorable Mention Awards in Grey Cube’s ‘Blue’ exhibition in 2021. She was awarded the Power of Creativity Art Prize by the Contemporary Art Curator Magazine. Beate was nominated for the Palm Art Award in 2019 and 2021. Some of her works are published in the House and Garden “Art Edit” in the October, November and December issues 2021. She is also featured in the book „Who’s Who in Visual Art — 99 Top Fine Artists of Our Day“ published by Art Domain Whois, 2020. She was born on September 27th 1966 in Gehrden near Hannover, Germany. She is married and has four children. As a painter she is self-educated. www.beateblume.de

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Hicham Touarass is an internationally exhibited artist, originating from Essaouira, Morocco. His work often focuses on representing the wonder of customs and traditions associated with Moroccan culture

Born on 30 January 1981 into a family of craftsmen , Touarass’ childhood influences feature significantly in his artistic practice. Following in his father’s footsteps as a weaver, the artist began his career with a strong interest in Moroccan Berber carpets, which he often wove in his studio. In traditional tribal weaving, Moroccan women would entwine stories of their lives into each carpet, enriching them with symbolism just as ancient Berber weavers would do to depict ancestral myths. Touarass preserves this custom by subtly depicting vast images of Moroccan culture in the intricacies of his own oil and acrylic paintings. A humble beauty flourishes on each canvas, as he meticulously combines qualities of abstract art, naïve art, pointillism, and calligraphy to create paintings that pay homage to Moroccan traditions and values. www.touarassart.com

ARTIST CONTACTS FOR ART COLLECTORS:

Category 27. NAIVE ART — OTHER

1st Place-Tie HICHAM TOUARASS MOROCCO www.touarassart.com “Vision” 100x100cm Oil on canvas. Naïve art.

1st Place-Tie BEATE BLUME GERMANY www.beateblume.de “Brooklyn Bridge Sunset” 50x40cm Acrylic.

2nd Place-Tie GREGORY SUPPLE USA supplelaw@aol.com
“Seagull Beach” 12x18" Watercolor on Arches paper.

2nd Place-Tie YULIM SEO USA annieyulimm@gmail.com
“It’s All In Your Head” 25x18" Acrylic on paper.

3rd Place-Tie ROBIN TONDRA USA robint@etcmail.com
“When Dogs Go To The Beach” 9x18" Acrylic on wood panel.

3rd Place-Tie PATRICK GOURGOUILLAT FRANCE 42x89cm (Triptych) www.patrickgourgouillat.fr “The Call Of Desires — Feat. Freddie Mercury, Catwoman (B. Kane) & Some Shiny Metallic Zentai [Viva La Vida]” Marker, acrylic, ink, graphite & charcoal.

3rd Place-Tie ANTHONY REGANATO USA www.anthonyjosephartgallery.com 18x24" “Beehive” Mixed media on canvas.

4th Place-Tie BEATE BLUME GERMANY www.beateblume.de “Tower Bridge At Dawn” 50x40cm Acrylic on canvas.

4th Place-Tie N.PRIMA RUSSIA www.infinityofart.com “Good Morning” 18x12cm Canvas, acrylic.

4th Place-Tie STJEPKO MAMIC CROATIA https://www.stjepkomamic.com/ “Il Messaggero” 65x65cm Mixed media with golden leaves on linen canvas.

5th Place-Tie GREGORY SUPPLE USA supplelaw@aol.com
“Reflections On MOMA” 14x11" Watercolor on Arches paper.

6th Place-Tie TEDDY SALAD GREAT BRITAIN teddyhsalad.com mazzihazzi@icloud.com “A Competent And Well-Received Performance By The Dalmatian Seagull Aerial Display Team” 72x71cm Acrylic.

6th Place-Tie ALBERT KIM USA albert1usainc@gmail.com
“Color Of The Flower Garden” 18x24" Oil on canvas.

6th Place-Tie ANAHITA DARABBEIGI IRAN anna.darab96@gmail.com
“Embedded” 148x210mm Marker on paper.

6th Place-Tie ALBERT KIM USA albert1usainc@gmail.com
“The Nocturnal Forest” 16x20" Oil on canvas.

6th Place-Tie ZHENGWEI LI CHINA 1789397652@qq.com
“Cool Colors In The City” 58x96cm Chinese painting.

Click below to see the relaxing hour-long movie revealing 2021’s hundreds of winning artworks:

Artworks from 59 countries won among the 50 categories: paintings, drawings, photography, digital and sculpture. (Americans won more because Americans entered more since the competition is better known here.)

Number of winners per country: Argentina 1, Australia 12, Belarus 2, Belgium 2, Brazil 3, Bulgaria 2, Canada 30, China 85, Croatia 2, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, England 2, Finland 1, France 7, Georgia 3, Germany 18, Ghana 1, Greece 3, Hungary 2, Japan 1, India 10, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 1, Italy 14, Kazakhstan 1, Kuwait 2, Latvia 6, Lithuania 27, Macedonia 5, Malaysia 2, Mexico 2, Moldova 1, Morocco 1, Netherlands 3, New Zealand 1, Nigeria 8, Norway 1, Oman 1, Pakistan 1, Philippines 5, Poland 8, Republic Of Korea 12, Romania 2, Russia 45, Serbia 1, South Africa 8, Spain 11, Sweden 3, Taiwan 7, Thailand 1, Turkey 3, Uganda 1, UK 10, Ukraine 5, USA 264, Uzbekistan 1, Zambia 1, Zimbabwe 2.