Art Work of the Insane
Psychiatrists such as Silvano Arieti, author of Interpretation of Schizophrenia and other books, as well as editor of American Handbook of Psychiatry, has studied art work of schizophrenics. Van Gogh was not discussed in Interpretation of Schizophrenia, perhaps because van Gogh was considered to have had depression. Vincent van Gogh, of Dutch descent, spent much of his life in France. He was born in 1853 and shot himself in 1890. Suicide has been common among writers, unfortunately, but has been rare with artists.
One cannot always tell by the painting whether the artist is in his right mind. Van Gogh's paintings appear normal. M. C. Escher, another Dutch artist, drew very bizarre pictures but appears to have been normal!
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This van Gogh painting is of the terrace of a cafe. It was taken from art.com, which sells van Gogh prints. Although van Gogh was hospitalized in an asylum at one point, his paintings appear normal. This is not true of Savador Dali. Psychitrists can have a field day with Dali paintings.
Shown here is a painting of Christ by Dali, also from art.com. It appears that one can have madness and also be a creative genius. Arieti has also analyzed writings and poetry of schizophrenic patients.
Shown here is "Meditative Rose" by Dali from art.com.
Shown here is Pablo Picasso. Although Picasso did wierd artwork, he appears to have been quite sane. This fact appears to throw cold water on the approach of analysis of the art of the insane. Of course, the writings of the mental patients are also studied.
Another example of the fact that Arieti's approach is flawed is the fact that Andy Warhol painted very wierd stuff and yet appears to have been a genius. Shown here is a Cambell's soup can painted in 1965 in green and purple. It seems that the public likes paintings that can't be beaten by a photograph. When Warhol was asked why he painted cans of Cambell's soup, he gave the logical reply that this was what he ate for lunch every day!
This very odd painting of a ballerina is by Dali and was from art.com, which sells Dali prints. Dali is described as having had "paranoia" by Sivano Arieti in "Interpretation of Schizophrenia".
This landscape with butterflies shows the surrealism of Dali. Picasso also was considered a surrealist. The painting was again from art.com. Picasso was probably normal.
Shown here is "Person at the Window" by Salvador Dali. The clipart is from art.com. This seems to me to be one of the more normal Salvador Dali paintings.
Shown here is a photo of Dali in 1928. He was born in 1904 and died in 1989. By his writings and surrealism he contributed to psychiatry. Dali was from Spain. The drawing was made in 1929.
Shown here is "Nature Morte" by Picasso. This style was called "surrealism".