Outsider Art is a label given to art produced by people not part of the conventional art world or art establishment. Outsider artists are usually self-taught in their art skills and techniques, knowledge of art history, and work from an 'inner vision'.
The term L'Art Brut was first used by the French artist Jean Dubuffet in 1945. Dubuffet, who collected art by psychiatric patients, defined Art Brut as "works executed by people free from artistic culture [who] draw up everything from their own depths and not from the stereotypes of classical art or of modish art ... a 'chemically pure' artistic operation". 1
The term Outsider Art was first used in 1972 by British art historian Roger Cardinal in his book Outsider Art. Katherine M Murrell, curator at the Anthony Petullo Collection of Self-Taught and Outsider Art, says: "At the heart of Art Brut is a reflection of the artist that is intense, original, and essentially positions the viewer as voyeur, suddenly a party to this private imagery." 2
More on Outsider Art:
- Timeline of Outsider Art (Tate Gallery)
- Helen Martins (About.com African History)
- Raw Vision (Outsider Art magazine)
- Anthony Petullo Outsider Art Collection (Milwaukee, USA)
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References:
1. L'Art Brut magazine, 1964, quoted in The Oxford Companion to Western Art p528, edited by Hugh Brigstocke, Oxford University Press 2001
2. Art Brut: Origins and Interpretations by Katherine M. Murrell, Anthony Petullo Collection (Accessed 20 June 2007)
- Art Brut
- Raw Art
- Visionary Art
