11/06/2022
🎨 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒂𝒍?
Depression, anxiety, angst, grief and loneliness are a few common struggles and we find hard to discuss/share. We often internalize it all and live life without communicating truly to anyone because we feel no one would understand.
🌻 Famously known artist 𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙑𝙖𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙜𝙝 whose work is mostly surreal and magical had a troubled mind and temper. He once mutilated his own ear after a fight with another artist friend and sent the remnants to his friend who was maid in a brothel. Later he makes a painting documenting this incident in a self-portrait with bandage ear which is now an example of mental instability and artistic genius. 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘮𝘢: 𝘗𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.
👉 Alongside Van Gogh, one of the most famous artists to portray mental suffering – loss, loneliness and fear included – was 𝑬𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉.
In his artworks he consistently and vividly painted emotional turmoil and trauma. For example, his 1907 painting 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 – a theme he revisited several times – is inspired by the death of his sister Sophie from tuberculosis when Munch was just 14 years old. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔'𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑓, 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙. This ability to use deeply personal experiences of mental anguish to create an artwork suggestive of collective suffering is seen repeatedly in Munch's work.
🚶♀️ 𝐋𝐞́𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐞𝐫𝐭 (1881–1946) shared Munch's gift for producing images saturated with solitude, introspection and existential angst. For Spilliaert – who saw his paintings exhibited alongside Munch's – psychological pain overlapped with physical discomfort. Plagued by stomach ulcers, the Belgian artist would often rise before dawn with insomnia and walk the dark Ostend seafront, the scene of many of his paintings.
𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑑 (1904), 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑘𝑦 𝑠𝑘𝑦, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑙. 𝑂𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑜𝑦, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠.
𝗬𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 – 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 – 𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱.
🐱 For example, in the case of 𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒊𝒔 𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒏 (1860–1939), an artist known for his popular drawings of anthropomorphized cats, his precise mental health condition was never identified, though it is generally believed that Wain had undiagnosed schizophrenia. The artist spent a considerable amount of time as an in-patient and received his generation's version of 'mental health care'.
In the later stages of his career, Wain produced a series of 'psychedelic cats' such as A Cat Standing on Its Hind Legs, Formed by Patterns Supposed to Be in the 'Early Greek' Style.
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑛'𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑎, 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 – 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 – 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑛'𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑠. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡-𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑠, 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐹𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑚.
🎨 Where other artists are concerned, the connection between their own mental health conditions and their creations is more certain. 𝑨𝒔𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝑵𝒐 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 by 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑾𝒂𝒉𝒍 (b.1943) chronicles a form of exposure therapy the artist received as an inpatient at the Maudsley Hospital in the early 1970s. The unsettling image reveals that what the artist most desired was simple confirmation that everything would be OK. Like many artists in the 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, Johnson Wahl's artworks created while receiving care can be considered 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒚. Yet Johnson Wahl was also a professional artist before and after undergoing treatment, making painting 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.
🎨 𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 (b.1972) has also drawn on her experiences of hospitalisation for mental health reasons. However, instead of representing her own condition, Gillow's 2001 painting 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒂𝒑 1 is inspired by the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) the artist witnessed other patients experiencing on the same ward. The loving caress of the hands around the soap, and the 'cradle' of the title, inject a disconcerting note of tenderness into a visceral image of compulsion and suffering.
🎨 A similar blend of pain and care is also detectable in 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 by 𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑱. 𝑴. 𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒂𝒑 1 (b.1968). One of many works by Pacquette exploring the artist’s first-hand experience of anorexia nervosa, the image combines knowledge of the physical strain the condition has on the body with the desire to nurture and heal.Pacquette's art acts as a window into the lived experience of a mental health condition. This lends it the ability to engender empathy from those without similar experiences, solace for those who do and – as with many of the artworks discussed above – a surprising and poignant note of hope.
Sourced from an article by- 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑾𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕
🌻🐱🎨💝
