Outsider Art
OUTSIDER ART A Condensed History of Outsider Art... 1). Some humans created some amazing, beautiful works... before anybody started jotting down their notes... Here in America, over in Europe and probably all over the globe. A lot of people say if it didn't get down on paper it didn't happen, (documentation), Well that's pretty much how Outsider art got it's start too... but the art was there first... Outsider Art's rich history began in the middle of the nineteenth century, with a series of studies conducted by a handful of European psychiatrists writing about the relationship between psychic disorders and artistic creativity. Scottish Dr. W. Browne's, “ Art in Madness, ” published as early as 1857; Italian Dr. and collector Cesare Lombroso's study, “ Genio e follia ,” (1864); Marcel Reja's, “L'Art chez lez fous ,” (1907); Paul Schilder's, “ Wahn und Erkenntnis ,” (1918); and finally in 1921, came Swiss Dr. Walter Morgenthaler's monograph of the patient/artist Adolf Wolfli , which for the first time gave a name to the subject of his study, instead of a pair of initials, entitiled : “Ein Geisteskranker als Kunstler.” The following year, Dr.Hans Prinzhorn, who was schooled in both psychiatry and art history published his classic book on the art of the insane, “Bildnerei der Geistedkranken.” The impact that this much coveted, loved and assimilated study had on such artists as Paul Klee, his contemporaries, the Surrealist Group of artists, and thus the whole of Modern and Contemporary Art as we know it today is simply: immeasureable... Although this fact is widely recognized, no comprehensive text of Art History of the Western World acknowledges or includes this important contribution. The public was often outraged upon first viewing the works of the surrealists, calling them “madmen,” etc... when the artworks that had a major impact influencing them and their imagery, were in fact pieces made by the “truly” mad men and women artists of the institutions. Dubuffet and Andre Breton formed the “la Compagnier de l' Art Brut” in 1948, coined the label “ART BRUT,” Dubuffet amassed a large collection in the 40's, formulated his theories on “art without culture,” was quite militant about it, etc... and after years of looking; finally found a home for his amazing COLLECTION DE L'ART BRUT in Lausanne and once again brought focus on the importance and validity of this largely unknown, forgotten and mostly overlooked group of image makers. These artists, like all human beings, have an innate desire and ability to “create” and they have chosen to focus their energy on artmaking... They too have the same motivations for making art as any other artist: to make something great, approval seeking from one's peers, $$ making, catharsis, something to do; and like their European and Southern Counterparts, excel at creating images that are as rich and imaginative as they are themselves. These artists also work free of any knowledge of the art world past and present, but will often include image references to the American pop culture that bombards us daily. |  |  |
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