Why people make art, the process of creation and what art is are topics that the world of science and art have been discussing for centuries. Much has been written and will continue to be written about schizophrenia and art, which are often considered together in both art history and psychiatry.
There are many artists in history who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, such as Syd Barrett, the guitarist and vocalist who composed most of the songs in the early years of the band Pink Floyd, the Australian concerto pianist, the pianist of David Helfgott, who is as famous for his schizoaffective disorder as he is for his schizoaffective disorder and whose drama-filled life was the subject of the Oscar-winning film "Shine"; Louis Wain, the famous painter known for his extraordinary cat paintings, who reflected the full course of his illness in his paintings; and Van Gogh
Louis Wain (1860-1939) was diagnosed with schizophrenia fifteen years before his death. When the artist was well, he painted cute, beautiful and happy cats, and when he was in an attack, he painted angry, deformed, colorful, disturbing cats that seemed as if they were emitting electricity or energy.
The artist worked in two different techniques depending on the course of his illness. Those who did not know that Wain had schizophrenia may have thought that after perfecting his painting skills, he adopted a style that was beyond him, but the artist did this due to his illness.
Prinzhorn, an art historian and psychiatrist who is considered a pioneer of art therapy and published the book "Paintings of the Mentally Ill" in 1922, worked at the psychiatric clinic of Heidelberg University.he collected the spontaneous paintings of patients with schizophrenia, 75 percent of whom had never been trained in painting, and amassed a very large collection that forms the basis of his book.Many of the paintings in this collection are very similar to the works of modern artists in their unusual characteristics and skillful execution. However, these patients were not aware of modern artists, modern artists were not yet known.
The most important of the psychotic artists in Prinzhorn's collection is Adolf Wölfli. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Wölfli started painting four years after his hospitalization. After his death, his paintings and drawings started to be sold and a foundation was established in his name. His works are in the Bern Art Museum in Switzerland. There are many other names who became painters in the hospital.
When we question the differences between a schizophrenic who later becomes an artist and a professional artist, the first things that come to mind may be self-expression, the urge to create, the desire to be immortal.The artist blends his personal accumulation, subconscious, philosophy of life, collective subconscious, and presents the raw, unprocessed material to society by processing it with the help of experience, knowledge, mastery and aesthetic elements. The schizophrenic, on the other hand, mostly conveys messages about his/her inner world and uses symbols that have a special meaning for him/her. Therefore, if we do not talk to the patient about his/her painting, we cannot fully understand what he/she is trying to say.