Insanity, Art and Culture

Abstract

This is an interesting contribution to the many books already published on art in relation to insanity. The author himself poses the question "Of what is the justification for such broadened and extended investigation into the art of the mentally ill?" I feel that the unusual field of investigation by itself is justifiable?it takes a bold front to write about a subject which can lay one open to so much criticism. At least the therapeutic and the diagnostic sides are only dealt with in so far as it is necessary in the author's comparative study. He sets out to examine the paintings of psychotics, to see if the symptoms shown are due to the illness alone or possibly to cultural background and secondly, whether the symptomatic significance is of universal or irrelevant character. In the course of the investigation various artistic mediums such as sculptoring, needlework and painting are studied. It is very necessary that in a concisely written book of this kind clarity be maintained, and to this end it is a good point, that the author defines all the more 79