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Some Comments on the Pictorial Art by Schizophrenics
- Leonardo
- The MIT Press
- Volume 14, Number 3, Summer 1981
- pp. 218-219
- Article
- Additional Information
Leonardo. Vol. 14. No. 3, pp. 218-219, 1981. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-094)8 I /03021 8-02$02.00/0 Pergamon Press Ltd. SOME COMMENTS ON THE PICTORIAL ART BY SCHIZOPHRENICS Bogumil Wtorkiewicz" I have long been attracted to the pictorial art made by schizophrenics because of its fantastic associations of shapes and colors. Indeed, the more I realize how little their pictures are known outside of hospitals, the more interest I take in them. Here I shall discuss some typical aspects of their pictures by showing that they may represent the effort of schizophrenics to convey messages about themselves. It has been found that artistic efforts soothe some of them temporarily, as somesane artistshave reported also (see, for example, Refs. 1-3). Most persons suffering from schizophrenia resist making pictures dealing with their mental disorder. By means of either drug treatment or psychotherapy their resistance may be overcome. In some cases the disorder may be a stimulus for making pictures. The traits of schizophrenics giving evidence in pictures of their mental disorder are the following: mental chaos, as shown by choices of both subject matter and colour schemes; mental obsessions, as shown by recurrence of certain themes and associations; lack of motor control, as shown by the clumsy use of tools; anxiety leading to covering wildly a surface with paint; extravagant fantasy and lack of skill, as shown in a failure to make coherent compositional structures of kinds that painters have devised in different cultures. Nevertheless, I believe they demonstrate an uninhibited type of pictorial expression that is especially interesting, since these pictures are generally unrelated to the pictorial conventions developed by sane artists. Andrzej Janicki, who is a resident medical doctor at the Provincial Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre of Nervous System Diseases at Stronie Slaaski, Poland, has conducted investigations on the response of many viewers to the pictures made by schizophrenics by means of public exhibitions [4]. Janicki did not report the number of sane viewers questioned, but he did supply the following information about them: 15% were professional artists, 30% amateur artists and 55% ignorant of the art of painting. With respect to their education: 9% had only elementary education; 40% secondary education and 5 1%' education beyond the secondary level. One question posed was: Are there major differences between pictures made by sane artists and by schizophrenics ? Their responses were: no, 56%; yes, 34?4and no opinion, 10%. They were asked to answer 'yes' to one of three questions: ( I ) Is there artistic merit in the pictures? Yes. 50%. (2) Do the pictures resemble some kinds of pictures 'Artist and art theoretician,UI. Karczbwkowska 12. m. 127. 25-019 Kielce. Poland. (Received 29 April 1980) by 20th-century sane artists? Yes, 40%. (3) Are the pictures like those made by children? Yes, 10%. Since 55% of the viewers were ignorant of the art of painting, the responses received to the first question might appear typical. Members of this group were probably not qualified to say whether pictures by schizophrenics had artistic merit, but could say whether they resembled 20th-century pictures, say of the surrealistic kind, upon being shown reproductions of them. They could also be expected to express a valid opinion on whether pictures made by schizophrenicsresembled those made by young children. The pictures by schizophrenics are characterized especially by a dream-like quality, perhaps due to a pathological brain condition that leads both to abnormal behaviour and to distortion of the interpretation of visual information transmitted to the brain. Some schizophrenics have little comprehension of external reality, and these tend to make pictures consisting of daubs of color and scribbled lines similar to those of children of an age when they first begin to make marks on paper. These patients, when asked about the meaning of their pictures, give replies that are contradicted a little while later. Their pictures seem merely to be examples of uncoordinated hand motor activity. Some patients may place daubs in a rhythmical arrangement, draw wavy lines repeatedly and place lines of commas on a page day after day. This would indicate that their picture-making is the result of minds that are not entirely blank, but in mental tension. If a therapist interferes with their automatic drawing by, for example, providing figurative drawings to be filled in with colors, afterwards they may make similar drawings that reflect their mysterious inner world. This may mean that schizophrenia brings about a split between a patient's grasp of artistic expression and ability to draw because of poor hand control and coordination. One can also come across complex drawings of geometrical shapes that are well designed and show interesting color schemes. Some of them do not differ from types of drawings made by some sane artists. When schizophrenics are encouraged to make collages, they glue to a piece of paper whateverthey find within easy reach-pieces of coloured or printed paper, cigarette packets, matches, etc. A collage seems more tangible to them than a drawing. Drawings and paintings by schizophrenics can be divided into the following kinds: ( I ) Nonsymbolic. A green circle is simply a green circle. Probably made as a spontaneous, pleasurable impulse. Symbolic. Shapes and colors of a picture have a meaning for the patient. Representational. Things seen in the world are depicted with so much distortion that a sane (2) (3) 218 Some Comments on the Pictorial Art by Schizophrenics person often cannot recognizewhat theyrepresent. References 219 A patient may believe- that each detail in a depiction is relevant andmay give forits being so. more interest in the pictorial art of schizophrenics. Perhaps a better understanding of these pictures will contribute to the treatment of those who suffer from schizophrenia. I. N. Madejska,Malarsrwoi schizofrenia(Cracow:Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1975). 2. A. Hauser, Filozofio Historii szruki (Warsaw: P.I.W., 1970). 3. R.Wollheim, Neurosis andtheArtist,Leonardo8,155(1975). 4. A. Janicki, Tw6rczoSL: plastyczna chorych psychicznie w ekspoiycji publicznej (GdBnsk, Poland: Psychiatria Polska, 1970). I hope that my Note ...