Raw Vision. See also => Raw Vision's Definitions The first inkling of the existence of Outsider Art emerged from the work of a few enlightened psychiatrists in the mid and late nineteenth century. Gradually it became clear that some psychiatric patients were spontaneously producing artworks - often on found scraps of paper - of unusual quality and power. By 1922 Dr Hans Prinzhorn in Germany published the first serious study of psychiatric works, Bildnerei der Geisteskranken (The Artistry of the Insane), after amassing a collection of several thousand examples from European institutions. Both book and collection received considerable attention from avant garde artists of the time and the influence on such figures as Franz Marc, Paul Klee, Max Ernst and Jean Dubuffet has been much documented.
At the same time Dr Walter Morgenthaler published the first study of a single psychiatric patient's work, Adolf Wölfli, a patient at his Swiss asylum. See also >> Raw Vision's Definitions. Interesting Ideas: Folk and outsider art links. My retirement from outsider links Things have changed since I started maintaining these links in 1994. At that point you could count the number of Web sites with any reference to outsider art on one hand. There was a FolkArt & Craft Exchange site (still there). The Electric Gallery Folk Art Wing (also still there) and a few other links. The original idea was just to create a central place for my own use where I could track outsider-related sites. That growing stream of requests to add links to my gallery (sic) gave me some sympathy for the gallery workers deluged with slides from folks who fancy themselves talented or, in this field, outsider (and sometimes both).
Although I have an interest in undiscovered and under appreciated art, not being a gallery, dealer or even a particularly aggressive collector, the payoff from this exercise is strictly intellectual. I'll leave in place the links you see here now (last updated in 2003). Thanks for your interest over the years. Matt Sesow - ArtBrut.com. The Outsider Art Pages: Folk and Outsider Art. Raw Vision. The Outsider Art Pages: Folk and Outsider Art.
Raw Vision.