Nayanaa Kanodia is considered to be the pioneer of L’art Naïf (Naïve Art) in India, a genre until then unseen and unheard of in a contemporary context. She has since established a rare niche for herself in this very particular style in India. Naïve art was originally defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes.

This aesthetic is sometimes emulated by trained artists and may then be referred to as primitivism, pseudo-naïve art, or faux naïve art. Naïve art is recognized, and often imitated, for its childlike simplicity and frankness. Paintings of this kind typically have a flat rendering style with a rudimentary expression of perspective. One particularly influential painter of “naïve art” was Henri Rousseau (1844–1910), a French Post-Impressionist who was discovered by Picasso