Outsider
Art
Outsider Art, known in Europe by its French name Art Brut, was
first formally recognized in 1948, when the visionary collector Jean Dubuffet
formed the Compagnie
de l'Art Brut. Dubuffet’s
interest had arisen through reading Dr. Hans Prinzhorn’s 1922 analysis of the creativity of
his mentally ill patients. This
work also had a powerful influence on the Surrealist movement in art that arose
between the wars.
Dubuffet’s remarkable art assemblage found a permanent home in Lausanne,
where it forms the core collection of The Museé de l’Art Brut – the
leading institution in Europe devoted to Outsider Art.
Following Dubuffet’s lead, a growing number of collectors,
galleries and institutions, in Europe, the United States and the Far East have
specialized in this genre.
A precise definition of
Outsider Art has yet to find universal acceptance.
In essence it is art produced in response to some inner creative urge
by those isolated from, or on the fringes of, society, ignorant of the art
world and its passing fads, unversed in conventional techniques, oblivious as
to how others respond to their creativity, and wholly divorced from any
concern with financial gain. It is
most commonly the outcome of
an innate creative passion that consumes and dominates the lives of
artists with disabilities or mental illness.
To art critics and collectors, the appeal of Outsider Art lies in its essential
purity. They would argue that
this art is a reflection of innate, untainted creativity that provides a
window into the innermost recesses of the human soul.
Outsider Art wells up like a volcano from deep within the artist,
wholly uninfluenced by how others might view the work and
with no regard to possible monetary reward.
Thus Outsider Art is manifestly free of many of the criticisms leveled
at the contemporary art world.
Because Outsider Art lacks a universally acceptable definition,
it is sometimes used to include other, more peripheral, art forms. Thus
some would burden Outsider Art by expanding it to encompass all manner of ‘rustic’,
‘ethnic’, ‘primitive’, ‘folk’ and other untrained, childish expressions of creativity that may be broadly identified
as ‘naif art’. Outsider Art more rigorously envisioned,
while sometimes naif, possesses a depth far beyond the merely
unsophisticated.
For a comprehensive and scholarly
account of Outsider Art read:
Lucienne Peiry,
2001: "Art Brut - The origins of Outsider Art" (translated
by James Frank) Published by Flammarion
There are numerous websites devoted
to Outsider Art. Among the most
important are:
www.creativegrowth.org
www.artbrut.ch
www.rawvision.com/outsiderart/whatisoa.html
Intuit
(The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art) www.outsider.art.com
American
Visionary Art Museum www.avam.com