5
Thomas Roske Inspiration and Unreachable Paradigm - Hart desfous and Surrealism The group around Andre Breton looked at the art made in institutions in a different way to, for example, the German expressionists before the First World War. Beyond national differences in the interpretation and treatment of psychiatric problems, and the knowledge that specific art ists, for example Andre Breton and Max Ernst, had of psychiatry, what is especially important is the experience of the madness of the First World War that later led the surrealists not only to a politicization but also to fundamentally inter rogate concepts of rationality and reason. Much more radically than the expressionists, they took the fous as an example and posited what they understood of their thinking, actions and crea tivity cogently against the traditional status quo of which, to them, psychiatrists were excellent representatives. A misunderstanding has been pointed out; that the surrealists incorrectly conflated their criticism of the existing symbolic order with the crisis in the symbolic order subjectively experi enced by the mentally ill. 1 Such an analysis mis judges the tension the surrealists deliberately maintained between reason and insanity. This also becomes clear in their attitude towards "the art of the insane". Artistry of the Mentally III What, however, did the surrealists know of this art form? Today it is a commonplace to call Hans Prinzhorn's book Bildnerei der Geisteskranken (Artistry of the Mentally III) (1922) the "surreal ists' Bible". 2 But what does this phrase mean exactly how can we interpret it sensibly? What status did the book really have in Paris at the start of the 1920s? It was not the first independent writing on the subject in France. In 1907, the psychiatrist Paul Meunier, under the pseudonym of Marcel Reja, brought out his book L'art chez les fous which already emphasised the aesthetic qualities of dif ferent types of works of asylum art.' L'art chez les fous was read by art enthusiasts and surely also by artists, but it was not notably influential. This may have been due to historical circumstances, to the presumably small print run, probably also to the insignificant appearance of this paperback edition with 17 blackandwhite illustrations. In contrast, the look of Artistry of the Mentally III already reveals the fact that for the author, aesthetic and not medical elements were pri mary (fig. 1). With its roughly 350 pages in 26 x 21.5 cm format, bound in black linen with white embossed lettering, the publication was remi niscent of an art book. The quality of the paper, even more the 187 illustrations, of which 20 were on plates, made this even clearer. Up to that point, no publication had shown so many works of this kind, and in such quality. There fore Artistry of the Mentally III made this sub ject matter visible for the first time. Probably because of this, it immediately became a suc cess. The first edition of 1,500 copies sold out quickly, the second appeared soon after in 1923. Its reception as an illustrative work is, of course, even more justifiable in foreign coun tries. At that time in Paris, only a few people could read German. Thus for the artists around Andre Breton the "Bible" was arguably above all a 'Picture Bible'. Would reading the text have softened the emphasis? The careful term "Bildnerei" (art istry) in the title, and the subtitle: A Contribution to the Psychology and Psychopathology of Configu ration, seem at first to contradict its appearance 10 Originalveröffentlichung in: Röske, Thomas (Hrsg.): Surrealismus und Wahnsinn / Surrealism and madness [Ausstellungskatalog], Heidelberg 2009, S. 10-18

Roske Inspiration Unreachable Paradigm Hart Surrealism · look at "morphological relationships" (Spies) ... The combination of unrelated elements ... a picture puzzle,

  • Upload
    doananh

  • View
    219

  • Download
    4

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Thomas Roske Inspiration and Unreachable Paradigm -Hart desfous and Surrealism

T h e g r o up a r o u n d And r e Bre ton l ooked at t h e

a r t m a d e i n i n s t i t u t i o n s i n a d i f f e r e n t way to, for

examp l e , t h e G e r m a n exp r e s s i on i s t s be fo r e t h e

Firs t World War. Beyond na t i ona l d i f f e r e n c e s in

t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a n d t r e a tmen t of psych i a t r i c

p r ob l ems , a n d t h e know l e dg e t h a t spec i f i c art­

is ts , for e x amp l e And r e Bre ton a n d Max Erns t ,

h a d of psychia t ry , wha t is espec ia l ly im p o r t a n t is

t h e exp e r i e n c e of t h e ma d n e s s of t h e Firs t World

War t ha t la ter led t h e s u r r e a l i s t s no t only to a

pol i t i c iza t ion bu t a l so to f u n d am e n t a l l y in ter­

roga te concep t s of ra t iona l i ty a n d r e a son . Muc h

mo r e radical ly t h a n t h e exp re s s ion i s t s , t h ey took

t h e fous as a n e x amp l e a n d pos i t ed wha t t h ey

u n d e r s t o o d of t h e i r t h i n k i n g , ac t i ons a n d crea­

tivity cogent ly aga i n s t t h e t r ad i t i ona l s t a t u s q u o

­ of wh i ch , to t h em , psych i a t r i s t s wer e excel len t

r ep re sen t a t i ve s .

A m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g h a s b e e n po i n t e d out ;

t h a t t h e su r r e a l i s t s incor rec t ly con f l a t ed t h e i r

c r i t i c i sm of t h e ex i s t i ng symbo l i c o rde r wi t h t h e

cr i s i s i n t h e symbo l i c orde r subjec t ive ly exper i ­

e n c ed by t h e men t a l l y ill.1 Such a n ana lys i s mis ­

j udge s t h e t e n s i on t h e s u r r e a l i s t s del ibera te ly

ma i n t a i n e d b e tw e e n r e a s on a n d i n san i ty . Th i s

a l so b e c ome s clear in t h e i r a t t i t ude t owa rds " the

a r t of t h e i n s ane" .

Artistry o f the Mentally III

Wha t , however , d id t h e s u r r e a l i s t s k n ow of t h i s

a r t f o rm ? Today it is a c ommon p l a c e to call H a n s

P r i n z h o r n ' s book Bildnerei der Geisteskranken

(Artistry of the Mentally III) (1922) t h e "sur rea l ­

i s t s ' Bible".2 But wha t doe s t h i s ph r a s e m e a n

exact ly ­ h ow c an we i n t e r p r e t it sensibly? Wha t

s t a t u s d id t h e book really have in Par i s at t h e

s t a r t of t h e 1920s?

It was no t t h e first i n d e p e n d e n t wr i t i n g on t h e

sub j e c t i n France . I n 1907, t h e psych i a t r i s t Pau l

Meun i e r , u n d e r t h e p s e u d o n ym of Marce l Reja,

b r o ugh t ou t h i s book L'art chez les fous wh i c h

a l ready emph a s i s e d t h e ae s t he t i c qua l i t i e s of dif­

f e r en t t ypes of work s of a s y l um a r t . ' L'art chez les

fous was read by a r t e n t h u s i a s t s a n d sure ly also

by a r t i s t s , bu t it was no t notably i n f l u en t i a l . Th i s

may have b e e n du e to h i s to r i ca l c i r c ums t a n c e s ,

to t h e p r e s umab l y sma l l p r i n t r u n , probably a l so

to t h e i n s i g n i f i c a n t a p p e a r a n c e of t h i s pape r b a ck

ed i t i on wi t h 17 b lack­and­whi t e i l l u s t r a t ions .

I n con t r a s t , t h e look of Artistry of the Mentally

III a l ready reveals t h e fact t h a t for t h e au tho r ,

ae s t he t i c a n d no t med i c a l e l eme n t s wer e pr i ­

m a r y (fig. 1).

Wi t h i ts r o ugh l y 350 page s i n 2 6 x 21.5 c m

f o rma t , b o u n d in black l i n en wi t h whi t e

emb o s s e d l e t t e r i ng , t h e pub l i ca t i on was r em i ­

n i s c en t of a n a r t book . T h e qua l i ty of t h e paper ,

even mo r e t h e 187 i l l u s t r a t ions , of wh i c h 2 0

were on pla tes , ma d e t h i s even c learer . Up to

t h a t po in t , no pub l i c a t i on had s h own so ma n y

work s of t h i s k ind , a n d in s u c h qual i ty . The r e ­

fo re Artistry of the Mentally III ma d e t h i s sub ­

ject ma t t e r visible for t h e first t ime . Probably

b e c a u s e of th i s , it immed i a t e l y b e c am e a suc­

cess . T h e first ed i t i on of 1,500 cop ies sold ou t

quickly, t h e s e cond a pp e a r e d s oon a f t e r in 1923.

Its r e cep t i on as a n i l lus t ra t ive work is, of

cou r se , even mo r e jus t i f i ab le in f o r e i gn coun ­

t r ies . At t h a t t im e i n Par i s , only a f ew peop l e

cou ld r ead G e rm a n . T h u s for t h e a r t i s t s a r o u n d

And r e Bre ton t h e "Bible" was a rguab ly above all

a ' P i c t u r e Bible'.

Wou l d r e a d i n g t h e text have s o f t e n e d t h e

emph a s i s ? T h e c a r e f u l t e rm "Bi ldnere i " (art­

istry) i n t h e title, a n d t h e sub t i t l e : A Contribution

to the Psychology and Psychopathology of Configu­

ration, s e em at first to con t r ad i c t its a p p e a r a n c e

1 0

Originalveröffentlichung in: Röske, Thomas (Hrsg.): Surrealismus und Wahnsinn / Surrealism and madness [Ausstellungskatalog], Heidelberg 2009, S. 10-18

T h o m a s Rdske Inspiration and Unreachable Paradigm

as a n a r t book . However , P r i n z h o r n was no t

mu c h i n t e r e s t ed i n d i agno s t i c views . For h im , at

s t ake was n o t h i n g less t h a n a n ew bas i s for look­

i n g at t h e a r t ma d e by peop l e who had b e c ome

e x t r eme ou t s i d e r s b e c a u s e of t h e i r u n i q u e me n ­

tal expe r i ence s , a n d also t h r o u g h t h e i r i sola t ion

in i n s t i t u t i on s . Especia l ly b e c a u s e t h e s e m e n

a n d w om e n c rea t ed work t h a t was s uppo s ed l y

ou t s i d e all t r ad i t i on a n d wi t h no t h o u g h t of a n

aud i ence , it was mo r e a u t h e n t i c for h im , "mo r e

rea l" t h a n work by p ro f e s s i ona l a r t i s t s . T h e lat­

ter, in spi te of t h e i r " l o ng i ng for i n s p i r e d creativ­

ity", u l t ima t e l y p r o du c e d " in t e l l ec tua l subs t i ­

t u t e s " in h i s eyes . 4

P r i n z h o r n pe r s i s t ed i n t h e ideology t h a t a r t

was essen t i a l ly t h e c rea t i on of exp re s s i on , a n d

t h e r e f o r e only access ib le t h r o u g h empa t hy . Both

t h i s view, a n d h i s p r e f e r e n c e for express ive

work , j u s t i f y to call h i s book a "Late Express ion­

ist Manifes to" . 5 But at t h e s am e t ime , in t h i s t h e

a u t h o r s t a n d s at t h e c ro s s r oad s of n ew in ter­

p r e t a t i on s . Becau s e of h i s expe r i e n c e s in t h e

War , f r om wh i c h h e r e t u r n e d as a "nih i l i s t " , 6 h e

s h a r e d wi t h t h e s u r r e a l i s t s a r e j ec t i on of t radi ­

t iona l r e a s o n ­ d om i n a t e d cu l t u r e . Like t h em , h e

t u r n e d to psychoana ly s i s ( s ome t h i n g t ha t was

st i l l gene ra l ly inconce ivab le for psych ia t r i s t s )

a n d t r i ed to c o nn e c t ­ l ike s om e su r r e a l i s t s 7 ­

t h e i deas of F r eud a n d Jung . x And in h i s f a sc ina ­

t i on for t h e " u n c a n n y " i n s om e i n s t i t u t i ona l i s ed

works , wh i c h l im i t s r a t i ona l a n d t r ad i t i ona l

ae s t he t i c u n d e r s t a n d i n g (in pa r t i c u l a r wi t h t h e

d r aw i n g s by Nat te re r , see cat . 13,15, 76 , 77), h e

s e em s to have s e n s e d t h e n ew qua l i t i e s o f ' s u r ­

rea l i s t aes the t i c s ' .

Howeve r , at first only P r i n z h o r n ' s t h o u g h t s

abou t t h e a r t i s t r y of t h e men t a l l y ill a n d t h e a r t

of t h e t im e b e c am e k n ow n to F r e n ch speak­

i n g aud i e n c e s t h r o u g h a n ar t i c le h e wro t e for

t h e Be lg i an mag a z i n e Varietes i n 1929 . y Later,

i n t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e 1930s, Ern s t Jolowicz

t r a n s l a t ed s e c t i on s of Artistry of the Mentally

III at me e t i n g s of a sma l l circle at Sa i n t e ­Anne

Hosp i t a l in Paris . 1 0 And in 1955, a chap t e r of

t h e book (about Augu s t Nat terer ) , t r an s l a t ed by

Mere t Op p e n h e i m , a pp e a r e d in t h e ma g a z i n e

Medium." A comp l e t e F r e n ch t r a n s l a t i on was

only pub l i s h e d in 1984.12

T h e Varietes ar t i c le a pp e a r e d in t im e for a n

exh ib i t i on of Artistes Malades in t h e Par i s gal le ry

of Max Bine, i n wh i c h 36 l oans f r om Heide l ­

b e r g wer e a l so to be s e en for t h e first t ime . ' 3

Ou r exh ib i t i on r e c on s t r u c t s t h e se lec t ion , wh i c h

mu s t a l so have b e e n no t i ced by t h e s u r r e a l i s t s

(cat. 56 ­91 ) . Alongs i d e th i s , t h e col lec t ion of t h e

psych i a t r i s t Augu s t e Mar i e was exh ib i t ed , as it

h a d b e e n at a n o t h e r Par i s gal lery at t h e t u r n of

1927 /28 (see cat . 4 9 ­ 5 5 a n d text by von Beyme) .

To o u r knowledge , t h e r e were no o t h e r exhib i ­

t i on s on t h e sub j e c t in Par i s . In t e rm s of pub ­

l ica t ions , we c an only men t i o n t h e sma l l book

by t h e psych i a t r i s t Jean Vinchon , LArt et lafolie

(1924); it p r o f f e r e d 28 i l l u s t r a t ions , bu t a sub ­

s tan t ia l ly mo r e conven t i ona l i n t e r p r e t a t i on t h a n

P r i n z h o r n ' s work . ' 4

Four creative procedures

T h e s u r r e a l i s t s r e f e r r ed to I'art des fous as a n

i n sp i r a t i on for t he i r ow n a r t only in gene r a l

t e rm s , if at all. The r e f o r e in t h e exh ib i t i on we

look at "mo rpho log i c a l r e l a t i on sh ip s " (Spies)

b e tw e e n a s y l um a r t a n d s u r r e a l i s ar t , a n d cor­

r e s p o nd e n c e s i n crea t ive p roce s s e s ­ as a ba s e

for f u r t h e r d i s cu s s i on . Us i n g f o u r of t h e s e proc­

es ses , we j ux t apo se d r aw i ng s , p r i n t s a n d pa in t ­

i n g s by s u r r e a l i s t s wi t h work s f r om P r i n z h o r n ' s

book .

12

Thomas Roske Inspiration and Unreachable Paradigm

1. Automatic drawings Ecriture automatique is at the birth of surreal­ism, and Breton emphasised it over and over again as the most important surrealistic tech­nique. The t ransferr ing of the idea of creation without the control of consciousness onto draw­ing was obvious. Andre Masson was a pioneer in this (see text by Steinlechner). We juxtapose four of his "automatic drawings" f rom 1924­26 with "scribbles", "ornamental" and "playful­symbolic drawings" plus one ' informal ' painting from the Prinzhorn collection.'5

Two sheets of paper that must come f rom a mediumist ic context (cat. 7 and n) remind us that as early as 1900, such "received" works were described as "automatism"."5 However, the surrealists probably knew that French psychia­trists also used the concept for other written and drawn productions by asylum inmates, for example the drawings of the so­called Baron de Ravallet (real name Albert G.) (cat. 51).17

2. The combination of unrelated elements The second important creative process of surre­alism also goes back to ecriture automatique. For the authors Andre Breton and Philippe Soupault, the appeal of the classic automatic texts in Les Champs Magnetique (1920) lay in the poetic power of unexpected word arrangements. In the first surrealist manifesto, Breton refers to it in Pierre Reverdy's call for the creation of images "born [...] f rom a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities": "The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be".'8 As a prototypical example, the comparison of a young man's beauty with the "unexpected meeting between a sewing machine and an umbrella on a dissecting­table" in the Comte de Lautreamont's Chants de Mal-doror (1869) was repeatedly cited.'y

The surrealists developed different processes to generate amazing analogous visual images. One was the Cadavre exquis (cat. 19, 20), a "game with folded paper in which a sentence or a draw­ing is constructed by several people, without each knowing the contribution of the previous player."20 Max Ernst developed the combina­tion of unrelated picture elements as a tech­nique f rom Dadaistic collages, and brought it to a high level of virtuosity, probably with.a prior knowledge of drawings from psychiatric institu­tions (see my text). In fact there are also several examples of this way of working in the Heidel­berg collection (cat. 13,15, 17, 18, 20). Recently a suspicion has arisen that this accumulation corresponds to a widespread prejudice among psychiatrists of the t ime about what 'mad art ' looked like, resulting in a pre­selection of work in their donations to Heidelberg.2 '

3. The paranoiac­critical method A surrealistic process which refers explicitly to insanity is the paranoiac-critical method devel­oped by Salvador Dali. For his visual double meanings (cat. 23, 25, 26, 28), which work like a picture puzzle, he refers to changes of percep­tion in specific forms of mental crises (see text by Gorsen). Hans Bellmer creates pictures in a similar manner ; in our example (cat. 28), the already ambiguous representation in a print is complicated fu r ther by overprinting it with another etching. Here the dense association of different sexual images has generated formida­ble graphic expression. Corresponding ambiguities can be found in

pictures in the Prinzhorn collection (cat. 22, 24, 27). Nevertheless, information about the artists is usually too insubstantial to justify the adjec­tive "paranoiac" as a kind of diagnosis. Our juxtaposition does not include The Witch's Head

M

T h o m a s Roske Inspiration and Unreachable Paradigm

by Aug u s t Nat te re r , wh i c h h a s f r e qu en t l y b e e n

c omp a r e d to Dali (fig. 2) s ince it is ne i t h e r i l lus­

t r a t ed in Artistry of the Mentally III, no r was it

p r e s e n t in t h e men t i o n e d Par i s s h ow in 1929 . It

is d o u b t f u l t h a t Dali ever saw t h e p i c t u r e .

4. Figure amalgamations

T h e f o u r t h su r r e a l i s t i c p i c t u r e p roces s was

a l so u s e d by H a n s Be l lme r : t h e am a l g am a t i o n of

figures a n d t h e i r c omp o n e n t s (cat. 32, 39), s ome ­

t im e s r eadab l e as g r ow i n g or s p r o u t i n g ou t of

e a ch o t h e r (cat. 34). Th i s t e c h n i q u e also a l lowed

h i m to dep ic t a c o n d e n s i n g of s exua l im a g i n a ­

t ion . Like a n a n a g r am , e ro t i c i zed body pa r t s a re

f ree ly f u s e d a n d mu l t i p l i e d (see t h e con t r i b u t i o n

by von Beyme) .

S im i l a r app r o a ch e s d e f i n e s om e p i c t u r e s of

t h e He id e l b e r g col lec t ion . T h e c omb i n a t i o n s

he r e a re espec ia l ly evocat ive. All f o u r creat ive

t e c h n i q u e s s i de s t ep easy r a t iona l u n d e r s t a n d ­

i n g of t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s a n d lead to f o rm s of

t h i n k i n g c lose to p r im a r y p roce s se s . But t h e last

of t h e f o u r j ux t apos i t i on s espec ia l ly i n f l u e n c e s

t h e pe r c ep t i on of t h e on e a n d of t h e o the r . Inevi­

tably, t h e v i ewe r s t a r t s to e ro t i ze t h e p i c t u r e s

of Klett (cat. 30, 31) a n d And e r e s (cat. 33). And

t h r o u g h t h e sad i s t i c t e n d en c i e s in t h e d r aw i n g

of Schne l l e r (cat. 35), t h o s e i n Be l lme r ' s Cephalo-

pode b e c ome c lea r (cat. 36).

Dr aw i n g s a n d p a i n t i n g s by Unica Z u r n o f f e r

ma n y mo r e e x amp l e s of figure f u s i o n s (cat.

41 ­48 ) . We have a s s emb l e d a sma l l r e t r o spec t i ve

of t h i s ' la te s u r r e a l i s t ' (and l i f e long c omp a n i o n

of H a n s Bel lmer ) i n t h e exh ib i t i on , b e c a u s e s h e

was on e of f ew a r t i s t s c lose to Breton who k n ew

i n s a n i t y no t j u s t as a n idea (see t ex t s by Brand­

C l a u s s e n a n d Safarova) . For t h e first t ime , a n

ove rv i ew of h e r a r t i s t i c d e v e l o pmen t i n c l ude s

two p i c t u r e s wh i c h s h e d r ew in 1962 / 6 3 whi l e

s t ay ing in Sa i n t e ­Anne Hosp i t a l (cat. 46 , 47).

True surrealism

Finally, t h e su r r e a l i s t ' s pe r c ep t i on of t h e a r t of

a s y l um i nm a t e s i n co rpo r a t e s t h e i r co l l ec t ing

a n d i n c l u d i n g it in t h e i r g r o u p exh ib i t i on s (see

text by von Beyme) . T h u s Breton acqu i r ed two

objets d'alienes (cat. 49 , 50) as early as 1929 (at

t ha t early Par i s exh ib i t i on wi t h artistes maladies).

Th e s e a r e e x amp l e s of a spec i f i c t ype of su r r ea l ­

ist objec t , bes i de t h e objets naturels, objets trouves,

objets oniriaue etc.22

For MacGregor , t h e s u r r e a l i s t s paradoxica l ly

s o u g h t "to c rea te a pic tor ia l a r t t h a t a l ready

ex i s t ed" ­ i n I'art desfous.Zi Still mo r e t h a n for

p i c t u r e s or s c u l p t u r e s m a d e by "ma dmen " , t h i s

su re ly accoun t s for objets d'alienes. For t h e sur ­

rea l i s t s , t h ey wer e no t only a mode l (for Bre ton

for examp l e , cf. p. 161), bu t as " f inds" f r om t h e

r e a lm beyond r e a son , t h ey are e x amp l e s of a

t r u e s u r r e a l i sm ­ i n a sm u c h as acts of man i a c s

t ha t wou ld no t be ca r r i ed out by t h e psychica l ly

hea l t hy cou ld b e s e e n as t r u ly su r r e a l i s t acts .

Th i s is t h e r e a son why, for Bre ton , t h e m em ­

ory of t h e so ld ie r of Sain t ­Diz ie r wh o be l i eved

t h e World War was a s imu l a t i o n a n d who "con­

duc t e d " t h e ha i l of shel l fire on t h e bat t l e f ie ld

(see p. 116­118), "never faded" 2 4 ­ a n d sure ly also

t h e r e a s on for t h e r e p r i n t of t h e 1926 newspa ­

p e r r epo r t in La Revolution Surrealiste abou t two

Cze ch a s y l um i nm a t e s who t h o u g h t t h ey were

wild a n im a l s a n d tore each o t h e r to pieces (see

p. 134­136). And is no t Nadja (1928) a r epo r t of a

genu i n e l y su r r e a l i s t l ife, wh i c h was cohe r en t in

a way t h a t was neve r poss ib le for t h e psychica l ly

s tab le m em b e r s of t h e g roup?

Th e s e con s i d e r a t i on s s h e d a spec ia l l igh t on

t h e " f amous" 2 5 revolver of Gu i l l a um e Pujo l l e

(cat. 1) wh i c h Bre ton i n c l uded in t h e exh ib i t i on

Le Surrealisme at t h e Maegh t Gal l e ry in Par i s in

1947.26 T h e ob jec t will inevi tably have ca l led u p

16

Thomas Roske I nsp i ra t i on and Unreachab le Parad igm

f rom memory that position in the second sur­realist Manifesto (1930) which has generated so much discussion: "The simplest surrealist act consists of dashing down into the street, pistol in hand, and firing blindly, as fast as you can pull the trigger, into the crowd."27 ­ Although many a surrealist may have admitted that they have already once dreamed of doing this, it would need a madman to carry it out.

Notes

1 H. Foster, "B l i nded Ins ights : On the Mode r n i s t Recept ion

o f the Ar t o f the Menta l l y III", October 97 (Summer 2001),

3 -30 , especial ly 18-30 .

2 W. Schmied , „P r i n zho rn und die Kunst des 20. Jahrhun­

der ts " , in Klages, Prinzhorn und die Persdnlichkeitspsy-

chologie, ed. F. Tenigl (Hestia 1986/87) (Bonn, 1987),

65­79 , S. 72; W. Spies cal led it "one o f the holy books o f

the Surrea l is ts" already in 1967 ( "Gen ie und I r rs inn. Zur

Auss te l l ung 'A r t Bru t ' in Paris", Frankfurter Allgemeine

Zeitung, 16 May 1967, 12); J. M. MacCrego r " u nde r g r ound

Bib le" o f the Paris o f i ts t ime (The Discovery of the Art of

the Insane [Pr inceton, 1989], 281).

3 M. Reja, L'Art chez tesfous (Paris, 1907). For earl ier inter­

est in asy lum art in France cf. MacCregor , The Discovery

of the Art of the Insane, 103­116, 170 f f .

4 H. Pr inzhorn , Artistry of the Mentally III. [1922], t rans l . Eric

von Brockdo r f f (New York, 1972), 272.

5 B. Brand­Claussen, "P r i nzho rns Bildnerei der Ceistesk-

ranken - ein spatexpress ion is t isches Man i fes t " , in Vision

und Revision einer Entdeckung (He ide lbe rg , 2001), 11­31.

6 H. Pr inzhorn , "D i e erden t ruckba re Seele", in Der Leuchter

8 (1927), 277 ­296 , 279.

7 R. Zuch , Die Surrealisten und C.C.Jung (We imar , 2004 ) .

8 See T. Rbske, Der Arzt als Kunstler. Asthetik und Psycho-

therapie bei Hans Prinzhorn (1886-1933) (Bielefeld, 1995),

221 f f .

9 H. Pr inzhorn , "A p ropos de I 'art des al ienes", in Variitis

Vol. 1 (1929), 577­581; Breton 's remarks abou t Pr inzhorn 's

book in his essay " f a r t des fous, la cle des champs "

(1948) lead to the assump t i o n tha t he only read the Var-

lute's art ic le .

10 See I. Hagele , Der Einflufi von Art Brut auf Richard Lindner

(M ik ro f l che ­ed i t i on ) (Ber l in , 2003) , 111­118.

11 H. Pr inzhorn , "Augus t Ne te r " ( transl. M. Oppenhe im ) ,

in Medium: Communication surrialiste, Nouve l le Serie 4

(January 1955), 27 ­30 .

12 H. Pr inzhorn , Expressions de lafolie. Dessins, peintures,

sculptures d'asile, ed. Mar ie lene Weber, t rans l . Mar ie lene

Weber and Ala in Brousse (Paris, 1984).

13 The issue o f Variitis was pub l i shed on 15 March , the

exh ib i t i on at Max Bine was shown f r om the 31 May to 15

)une 1929.

14 J. V inchon , L'Art et lafolie (Paris, 1924); a revised ed i t i on

was pub l i shed in 1950.

15 Pr inzhorn , Artistry of the Mentally III, 44 , 46 and 261.

16 R. Cardinal , "Sur rea l i sm and the Parad igm o f the Creat ive

Sub jec t " , Parallel Visions (Pr inceton, 1992), 94­119, 96

and 105. For the re la t ionsh ip be tween med i um i sm and

sur rea l i sm, see P. Corsen , "De r Eint r i t t des Med i um ­

s imus in die Kunstgesch ich te . Das Unerk la r l i che ­ der

sur rea l is t ische Schlussel" , in The Message. Kunst und

Okkultismus, Kuns tmuseum Bochum (Cologne, 2007) ,

17­32.

17 M. Leroy, "Dess ins d ' un demen t precoce avec etat mani ­

aque" , Bulletin de la Sociiti Clinique de Midecine Mentale

4 09 1 1 ) , 303 ­308 . I thank Mar ie lene Weber for po i n t i ng

th is text ou t to me.

18 A. Breton, "Man i f e s t o o f Sur rea l i sm" [1924] Manifestoes

of Surrealism, t rans l . R. Seaver and H. R. Lane (Ann Arbor ,

1972). 1­47, 20.

19 A. Breton, Entritiens - Gesprache (Ams te rdam, 1996), 51.

20 [A. Breton] , "Cadavre exquis" , in Dictionnaire Abrtgt du

Surrialisme (Paris, 1938), 6.

21 J. Katerndahl , Bildnerei von Schizophrenen (H i l deshe im ,

2005), especial ly 53 (., 68, 91.

22 See the ent ry " O b j e t " in Dictionnaire Abrtgi du Surreal­

ism, 18 f.

23 MacCregor , The Discovery of the Art of the Insane, 291.

24 Breton, Entretiens, 35.

25 H. Bel lmer in a le t ter to G. Ferdiere 24 February 1948,

quo ted af ter Alexander Stefanov, Considerations sur

I'ceuvre des Cuillaume Pujolle, Mai t r i se d 'h i s to i re de I 'art ,

Pantheon Sorbonne­Un ive rs i t e Paris (Paris, 1999), 42.

26 Ibid., 4 2 ­ 4 4 and 135.

27 A. Breton, "Second Man i fes t o f Sur rea l i sm" [1930], in

Breton, Manifestoes of Surrealism, 117­187, 125.

18