{"product_id":"9780983248002","title":"The Art of Insanity: An Analysis of Ten Schizophrenic Artists","description":"\u003cp\u003eHans Prinzhorn (1886-1933) was a German psychiatrist and art historian. While working at the psychiatric hospital of the University of Heidelberg, Prinzhorn focused on adding to the hospital’s collection of artwork created by mentally ill patients. Making use of this collection, he published \u003ci\u003eBildnerei der Geisteskranken\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eArtistry of the Mentally Ill\u003c\/i\u003e in 1922, a study of what he termed “schizophrenic art,” richly illustrated with examples of works from asylum inmates. After Max Ernst brought a copy to Paris, it became an essential influence for the Surrealists, who, inspired by Freud, had already begun to explore the unconscious through dreams and automatic writing, simulating madness in their lack of reason, logic, and structure. Prinzhorn’s theories, mainly concerned with the borderline between illness and self-expression, were a perfect fit for the Surrealist aesthetic.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAt the center of Prinzhorn’s book were case studies of ten psychotic artists whom he refers to as the schizophrenic masters, for their “complete autistic isolation” and “gruesome solipsism.” \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Insanity \u003c\/i\u003ecollects these ten case histories along with over ninety original illustrations, and presents them in a new edition designed to focus on Prinzhorn’s unique, anthropological synthesis of psychoanalysis and art theory.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAlongside many fascinating and bizarre artworks that cannot be found elsewhere, \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Insanity\u003c\/i\u003e makes available in English this influential and unusual study that was crucial to the eventual formulation of the Art Brut movement by Jean Dubuffet and André Breton, as well as the overall project of the Surrealists.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Solar Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47016886337776,"sku":"9780983248002","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780983248002_p0.jpg?v=1763885849","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780983248002","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}