The relationship between Art and Insanity
Resurfacing
The relationship between Art and Insanity
Creativity is an ability greatly revered, passionately envied, and potentially very lucrative. Creative genius has brought about such fantastic invention as the internal combustion engine, nuclear energy, and (dare I say) TiVo! It adorns the walls of great cathedrals, composes the buildings that are themselves fixtures of artistic brilliance, and fills the air with timeless sound. Such genius fills our text books, makes men immortal, and elevates the possibilities for the future. Yet for every Einstein, Mozart, Michelangelo, and Luther there are hundreds of men and women standing in their shadow – stars in the creative sky outshone by such brilliance. On one hand the precipice of creativity can inspire and motivate one to change the way man thinks, whilst on the other can plunge him into the depths of isolated delusion, and either destroy or restore his mind.
Consider the subject of the 2001 Academy Award winning film “A Beautiful Mind” (Howard). John Forbes Nash, Jr., an American mathematician who shared winning the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in game theory at Princeton University, struggled with schizophrenia since 1958. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder “in which a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined.” According to the Princeton University Library FAQ (frequently asked questions) on Nash, the Nobel committee typically invites each Laureate to give an hour long lecture, however the committee did not thus invite Nash “due to concerns over his mental health.”
Consider also the Dutch painter, Vincent Van Gogh, a pioneer in the artistic style known as Expressionism, “the tendency of the artist to distort reality for an emotional effect.” Van Gogh produced approximately two thousand works in the last ten years of his life. With such masterpieces as “Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers”, sold at auction at Christie's London in 1987 for nearly $40 Million, and “Starry Night Over the Rhone” Van Gogh left a dramatic impression on the artistic world.
His legacy as an artist is augmented by the mystery of his mental illness. Voluntarily committing himself to an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Van Gogh produced some of his most dramatic works from the confines of this facility. After moving away from the asylum a few short years later, and while producing nearly one painting every day, Van Gogh found life so unbearable he committed suicide - shooting himself, and dieing two days later. Compared with his contemporaries Cézanne, Gauguin, and Seurat, Van Gogh's work displays an oppressive layer of emotion. His later paintings are overrun with a sense of desperation and madness. Masterpieces though they are, the works illustrate the disturbed mind of the genius.
In spite of the common understanding that genius and madness are closely related, they are not exclusive bed-fellows. Note that for Nash's schizophrenia, he shares the 1994 Nobel Prize with three other men who are not known to suffer his illness. Observe also that Van Gogh's contemporaries of renown did not share his malady. Even with todays lenient handling of the mentally ill, hospitals and asylums are populated by men and women whose work will never be published, whose art will be filed and forgotten in the wake of their own passing. Not all sufferers of mental illness are found so near the pinnacle of creativity, even if on the other side of sanity.
In the 1960's young men in America were faced with a choice: enlist voluntarily, or be drafted into military service. In order to control his own appointment to duty, as was the privilege of those who volunteered, Chuck Gillies (my father) enlisted in the United States Army, to specialize in psychology. This specialty would ensure him a local post instead of assignment to South East Asia. Stationed at the psych ward of Fort Ord, Gillies worked with soldiers returning from war and young men incapable of holding military post. One such man was placed in the ward after succumbing to a nervous breakdown during zero week of boot camp, prior to the commencement of training. The young man was enlisted in the Army by his parents, who, seeking to “make a man of him,” had released him from an asylum prior to his military enrollment. In the psych ward, Jeff was unable to speak following his breakdown. In spite of this, the medical team and psychologists found he could communicate through artwork. Over the course of his placement in the ward, Jeff produced a series of works which illustrated his mental state. In the series, according to Gillies, Jeff was able to articulate the mental healing he was experiencing. Upon his discharge from the ward, and subsequently the Army, Jeff gave some of these pieces to the men who worked with him through his illness. The illustration adorning this article is the seventh of the series.
Perhaps the words of Dr. Paul Schilder, director of clinical psychiatry at Bellvue Hospital during the 1930's, summarize the relationship of art and madness best: "A pathological person is forced down under the surface of everyday reality and can't get back. A normal artist can dive down and come back up with the treasure." Or as musician and actor Oscar Levant once quipped, “There is a fine line between genius and insanity, I have erased this line.”
Works Referenced
"Insanity in Art." time.com. 07 November 1938. Time Inc.. 7 May 2007 <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788901,00.html>.
"FAQ John Nash." Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library. 10 August 2004. Princeton University. 7 May 2007 <http://www.princeton.edu/mudd/news/faq/topics/nash.shtml>.
"Vincent van Gogh." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 May 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 May 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vincent_van_Gogh&oldid=128778687>.
"Vincent van Gogh's Life - The Later Years." Vincent van Gogh Gallery. Van Gogh Gallery. 7 May 2007 <http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/later.html>.
"Expressionism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 4 May 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 May 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Expressionism&oldid=128193335>.
"Oscar Levant." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 23 Apr 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 7 May 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oscar_Levant&oldid=125052835>.
