Paintings of a Sensual Immediacy: André Bauchant, Camille Bombois, Séraphine Louis, Henri Rousseau, and Louis Vivin had no artistic training, yet these five painters left a lasting mark on the Paris art scene of the early 20th century.

Decisive for their discovery was their contact with German art dealer Wilhelm Uhde and his joint exhibition The Painters of the Sacred Heart in 1928 that brought together the stylistically diverse artworks of these self-taught artists. In their individual techniques and motifs, often borrowed from nature or their immediate surroundings, he saw a unique emotionality, a radiating freshness and accessibility, which he felt was lacking in the theory-laden discourse of academically trained modernist artists.

Having since fallen into oblivion, this book is a joyful rediscovery of a chapter of art history that only recently has found new appreciation.