Post by Admin on Sept 16, 2021 14:10:51 GMT
Essential Books: 8 Vivid Monographs on Famed Outsider Artists
BY THE ARTNEWS RECOMMENDS EDITORS
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September 15, 2021 12:13pm
www.artnews.com/art-news/product-recommendations/essential-monographs-outsider-artists-1234603959/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art
Outsider Art isn’t a particular genre so much as it is a plethora of them: vernacular art; folk art; visionary art; works by institutionalized, incarcerated, or disabled artists. The only thing these artists have in common is that they’re self-taught. Not surprisingly, there’s been a long-standing debate over the efficacy of using “Outsider Art” as a catch-all term for this kind of work, and attitudes toward it as a cultural phenomenon have changed over the years. During the 1920s, studies of psychiatric patients used the label “art of the insane” to describe artworks made by some of them. In the 1940s, French artist Jean Dubuffet championed such expression as a category in its own right, dubbing it Art Brut. Meanwhile in the United States, folk art—or Americana as it was also known—captured the public’s imagination during the 1950s and ’60s. It wasn’t until 1972 that Outsider Art as a descriptor was coined by British art historian Roger Cardinal as the title of his book on the subject. Since then, self-taught artists have been mainstreamed, blurring the distinction between their work and that of formally trained artists. Whatever you want to call it, though, some of the most astounding artists of the past century have worked apart from the art-historical canon—as you’ll find in our recommendations of the best monographs on Outsider artists. (Prices and availability current at time of publication.)
BY THE ARTNEWS RECOMMENDS EDITORS
Plus Icon
September 15, 2021 12:13pm
www.artnews.com/art-news/product-recommendations/essential-monographs-outsider-artists-1234603959/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art
Outsider Art isn’t a particular genre so much as it is a plethora of them: vernacular art; folk art; visionary art; works by institutionalized, incarcerated, or disabled artists. The only thing these artists have in common is that they’re self-taught. Not surprisingly, there’s been a long-standing debate over the efficacy of using “Outsider Art” as a catch-all term for this kind of work, and attitudes toward it as a cultural phenomenon have changed over the years. During the 1920s, studies of psychiatric patients used the label “art of the insane” to describe artworks made by some of them. In the 1940s, French artist Jean Dubuffet championed such expression as a category in its own right, dubbing it Art Brut. Meanwhile in the United States, folk art—or Americana as it was also known—captured the public’s imagination during the 1950s and ’60s. It wasn’t until 1972 that Outsider Art as a descriptor was coined by British art historian Roger Cardinal as the title of his book on the subject. Since then, self-taught artists have been mainstreamed, blurring the distinction between their work and that of formally trained artists. Whatever you want to call it, though, some of the most astounding artists of the past century have worked apart from the art-historical canon—as you’ll find in our recommendations of the best monographs on Outsider artists. (Prices and availability current at time of publication.)