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Episode 1: The Origin of Outsider Art

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Description

So, what is Outsider Art?

  • Popularised in the 20th century
  • Started with art from mental patients, then included anyone who lived isolated lives, and finally, to anyone who makes art that goes against popular art conventions of the time.
  • In the Americas, Outsider Art is often confused with Folk Art, Naive Art, Primitive Art, Visionary Art
  • Controversial label nowadays
  • Inspiration for this podcast, but we plan on covering artists outside of that category as well

Some problems with it:

  • Common misconception that Outsider Art is essentially pathological
  • The Label allowed art collectors to take advantage of the poor, the mentally ill and the disabled.
  • The more outside of society the artist was, the more money their work made. This gave incentive to art dealers and collectors to keep them on the fringes

Main Contributors:

  • Hanz Prinzhorn
  • Jean Dubuffet
  • Roger Cardinal

Photos

  • Book cover of Hans Prinzhorn’s “Artistry of the Mentally Ill”
  • Early work by Jean Dubuffet called “Snack for Two”, 1945, oil on canvas
  • Later work by Jean Dubuffet called “Autoportrait II”, 1966, marker on paper
  • Plaigarism accusation—comparison between two wooden sculptures. LEFT: Gaston Chaissac, “Untitled”, 1948. RIGHT: Jean Dubuffet, “Cursed Gossip”, 1954
  • Another comparison between Chaissac and Dubuffet. LEFT: Chaissac, “Totem Double Face”, 1961. RIGHT: Dubuffet, “Personnage pour Washington Parade”, 1973
  • Work by Madge Gill, “Many Mansions”, 1951, ink on cardboard
  • Test captioWork by Adolf Wölfli, “Sommer=Wirtschaft (Summer=Economy)”, 1907, pencil and coloured pencil on newsprint. See more here www.adolfwoelfli.ch/en/work.n
  • Horse drawing by Nadia Chomyn, the autistic savant outsider artist. She drew this when she was five.
  • Elephant painting by Shelby, 1996

Sources

  • Hans Prinzhorn, Artistry of the Mentally Ill, 1972 reprint
  • Antonia Dapena-Tretter, “Jean Dubuffet & Art Brut: The Creation of an Avant-Garde Identity”, Platform, Vol. 11, ‘Authenticity’, Autumn 2017
  • Margit Rowell, “Jean Dubuffet: A Retrospective”, 1973, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
  • www.outsiderartfair.com
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Cardinal_(art_historian)
  • Roger Cardinal, “Outsider Art and the Autistic Creator”, 2009