Rare Special Editions available from ACC Art Books –  More Information

Painting of figure with bare torso, on white cover, Extraordinary! in black font below

Extraordinary!

Unknown Works from Swiss Psychiatric Institutions around 1900

Edited by Katrin Luchsinger
Edited by Helen Hirsch
Edited by Thomas Roeske

£35.00

Log in to add this to your wishlist.
  • Documents a unique research project at Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK on art created by people suffering from mental illnesses
  • Richly illustrated in colour throughout
  • Most of the featured art works have never been published before
Full Description

Public interest in art created by people suffering from mental illnesses has been growing in recent years, while the topic is still relatively exotic in the academic world. In a unique research project at Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK, art works produced around 1900 by patients in mental asylums and hospitals in Switzerland have been recorded, documented, and examined. Their authors worked on many of them for long periods, always with dedication, and often revealing remarkable technical and artistic prowess. They saw their art as a contribution to public life, as their own invention and expression of their ideas, but also as an act to compensate for the dull life at, and criticism of, the institutions they were being treated. This field of art, and of art history, is subject to the dynamics of academic standards and, consequently, of inclusions and exclusions. This new book, featuring a manifold selection of previously unpublished art works, questions our contemporary understanding of art, making the reader revisit his or her own concept of what constitutes art and to engage with these artists and their work.

Published to accompany exhibitions at Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg, Germany from October 2018 to January 2019. at the Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland from February to May 2019, and at LENTOS Kunstmuseum Linz, Austria from June to August 2019.

Text in English and German.

About the Author

Katrin Luchsinger is a Professor of Art Education at Zurich University of the Arts' Department of Cultural Analysis. Helen Hirsch worked as a trained nurse in mental hospitals before studying art history and arts management. She has been director of Kunstmuseum Thun in Switzerland since 2007. Thomas Röske is Director of the Prinzhorn Collection at Heidelberg University Hospital.

Specifications
Publisher
Scheidegger & Spiess
ISBN
9783858816047
Published
22nd Nov 2018
Binding
Hardback
Territory
World excluding Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, United States, Canada, and Japan
Size
240 mm x 170 mm
Pages
240 Pages
Illustrations
166 color
Recently Viewed

Please log-in or create an account to see your recent items.