December 2017
Intermediate to advanced
208 pages
3h 39m
English
Art made outside the cultural mainstream by lone obsessives, or people with psychiatric problems, is deemed by some to have an authenticity that the art of trained practitioners cannot have.
• Interest in such work began in 1922 when Hans Prinzhorn, a German doctor, published the Artistry of the Insane, a study of the art of hundreds of mental patients. Such art was later championed by the French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) who coined the term “Art Brut” to describe it. According to Dubuffet, “Those works created from solitude and from pure and authentic creative impulses—where worries of competition, acclaim and social promotion do not interfere—are… more precious than the productions of professionals.” ...