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Between Madness and Art
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What is the link between psychological states and the creative process? Is there a relationship between psychosis and the artistic impulse? What can art works produced by mental patients tell us about artistic genius? Can art therapy be helpful in the treatment of the mentally ill?
BETWEEN MADNESS AND ART examines these issues through the story of Dr. Hans Prinzhorn (1886-1933), a German student of psychiatry and art history. As Director of the Heidelberg Psychiatric Clinic in the 1920s, he was fascinated by the beauty and expressiveness of the drawings, paintings and sculptures of his schizophrenic patients. He began to study and preserve this art, eventually writing a seminal study, Artistry of the Mentally Ill, and by the time of his death had organized the largest collection of its type in the world.
After Prinzhorn's death, the Nazis displayed some of his patients' works for their 1937 exhibit of 'degenerate art.' Forgotten for many years, the Prinzhorn Collection was rediscovered in 1963, toured Europe, Asia and the U.S., and has led to a reevaluation of what today is known as 'outsider art.'
The film tells this remarkable story through archival footage, profiles of Prinzhorn's patient-artists, footage of their art works, and interviews with psychotherapists, doctors, artists, curators, two contemporary outpatient artists and the collection's current director.
In its examination of the relationship between mental states and the creative urge, BETWEEN MADNESS AND ART raises serious questions about our current definitions of both art and illness.
'Excellent... an engaging, informative film.' -Roy Behrens, Ballast
'Fascinating... sensitive... tells the story of Prinzhorn and his collection beautifully.' -Leonardo On-Line Reviews
'Raises many fascinating issues... powerful and poignant.' -Dean Keith Simonton, PsycCRITIQUES (American Psychological Association)
'Fascinating.'-DOX Magazine
'Careful craftsmanship and aesthetic intelligence.'-Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Citation
Main credits
Beetz, Christian (Director)
Beetz, Christian (Producer)
Other credits
Camera, Matthias Schellenberg, Stefan Grandinetti, Jörg Jeshel; music, Jan Tilman Schade; editing, Kurt Schneider, Martina Zöllner, Simone Emmelius.
Distributor subjects
Art; Germany; Psychology; PsychiatryKeywords
WEBVTT
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[music]
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Vieira Schmidt lives in an assisted
living project for the mentally ill.
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She has produced thousands
of drawing for peace.
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Stacked into piles many feet
high, her drawings are exhibited
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in an unconventional museum, The
Prinzhorn Collection in Heidelberg.
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The world famous collection of
work from so called insane asylums
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has had its own museum since 2001,
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housed in a former auditory of the
universities\' mental hospital.
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The Museum is devoted exclusively to works
not efficiently recognized as art, so called
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\"outsider art.\"
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In the 1920s, art historians and
physician Hans Prinzhorn revolutionized
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the way we see the connection between
madness and art. His art collection remains
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an important point of reference for psycho
therapists, doctors and artists to this day.
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The greater part of The Prinzhorn Collection has been
archived. With more than 5000 individual pieces,
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it is the most extensive
collection art work,
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originating from psychiatric institutions
at the turn of the 20th century.
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Prinzhorn was interested in the creative
expression of patience who\'s art work
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had until then been seen as mere waste.
He was intrigued
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by the idea that such works could
reflect on mitigated human will
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and the raw impulse to create and
might thus be the key to genuine art.
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[music]
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Hans Prinzhon. Could these
two extreme states,
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the artistic process on the one hand
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and the world few of the mentally ill on the
other actually so somehow interconnected?
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At the outset of the 20th century,
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the vast majority of the mentally ill were relegated
to dismal existence in large institutions,
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those reflected in the
conditions such as depression,
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mania, Schizophrenia and paranoia were
rigged from their familiar environment
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and thrown together in
institutions far from the cities.
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As a matter of course these people were diagnosed
with dementia praecox, premature dementia.
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Each of these people is a hidden
universe, requiring a key.
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Yet there personal needs
are barely acknowledged.
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In the overcrowded institutions there
is not time for individual treatment,
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not alone new forms of therapy.
Medical care is largely limited
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to institutionalization and sedation.
A longing for freedom
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is a common theme that permeates these
patient\'s writings. I demand to leave
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this murderous place. There were
boroughs everywhere all year long.
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Insane asylum, oh, miserable word.
Those who have lost their ways
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in the labyrinths of their minds are
expected to find themselves there.
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Admissions sore at the time of World War I.
Women are branded
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as having a light mind disorder.
And men have paranoia.
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The insane asylums are both a
last refuge and a dead end.
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Hardly anyone admitted ever leaves.
At the [Rot Pile]sanatorium,
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Prinzhorn encounters a patient who
will go on to figure centrally
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in his Collection Project.
Electrician August Natterer,
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remains institutionalized until his death.
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During these 26 years, he produces
countless paintings and drawings.
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Prinzhorn is intrigued but Natterer,
convinced that he can now confirm
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that such works can only be
produced in a certain mental state.
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Natterer\'s troubled marriage
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prompts him to flee to a world of his
own, and assume a second identity.
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[music]
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He works on an imaginary family tree.
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Turning to the pseudo logic of paranoia,
Natterer shows his decent from Napoleon.
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[music]
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At the institution, Natterer
petitions governments and lords.
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Mean while, the outside world is
in the throes of World War I,
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a war Natterer is convinced is being
waged primarily to affect his release.
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[music]
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Natterer\'s art work,
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world to access with hair is
inspired by grand delusion
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in which Natterer claims that world
was reviled to him in half hour
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through 10,000 images.
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Natterer\'s visions center around a witch
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who created the world.
He is obsessed by her
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and paints her over and over.
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[music]
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This multiple image is
at once both the witch
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and a landscape. It has a glass eye,
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a running nose with warts and
an incomplete set of teeth,
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that at the same time innocently depict
the earth and nature in great detail.
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The witch is the seed of all people
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and all things, the paper has
been painted on both sides,
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the witch\'s head vanishes
when illuminated from behind.
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In this drawing,
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August Natterer depicted his own
eyes at the moment of his vision.
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In a note written after visiting
Natterer, Prinzhorn describes
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his bright eyes as…
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Unfaltering, full of life and
having a flickering gaze.
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[music]
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[sil.]
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-This is a bust by Kolbe.
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At the start of World War I,
Hans Prinzhorn works as a doctor
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at a medical facility in Strasburg and
is later sent to the front in France.
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Like many of his contemporaries, Prinzhorn
returns from the war a changed man.
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Now a self-professed (inaudible), he is
determined to alter the course of his life.
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In 1919, he excepts a position as
a junior doctor in Heidelberg,
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where his responsibilities include
managing a small collection of art work
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produced by mentally ill patients.
Under Prinzhorn\'s direction
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the collection becomes a project
of gigantic proportions
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and turns out be his life\'s work. In dozens
of letters to fellow doctors all over Europe,
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he asks his colleagues to send him paintings
and drawings by mentally ill patients.
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Through a large scale study he hopes
to verify the interconnectivity
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of psychological and creative processes.
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He collects more than 5000 works
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from more than 400 patients, some of which
he deems as having more merit then others
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and goes on to publish a book in
which he describes his so called
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10 Schizophrenic masters.
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The Scientific Treatise,
Artistry Of The Mentally Ill
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is published in 1922 as a
lavishly illustrated volume.
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At first it primarily attracts
the attention of artists
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and is later dubbed, the Surrealists Bible.
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I used the term Artistry to refer to
all three and two dimensional works
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produced by the mentally ill that
exhibit artistic tendencies.
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Thus the collections contains mainly pictures
spontaneously created by mentally ill patients
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who are unschooled in artistic techniques.
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The way Prinzhorn views the art
of the insane is unprecedented.
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During this period many artists
turn to new sources of inspiration,
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such as the exotic art of so called primitive
peoples. Looking at these carvings,
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renowned artist Alfred Kubin was
reminded of Polynesian idols.
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In truth, they were made by one
of Prinzhorn\'s 10 masters.
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This sculpture of Kaiser
Wilhelm during World War I,
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complete with an imperial
Eagle and gas mask was carved
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by a patient named Karl Genzel.
His works comment
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on the events in the sane world beyond
the gates of his mental institution
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with considerable wit and irony.
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A trained brick layer, Genzel had repeated
run-ins with the law. The charges ranged
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from physical assault to property
damage to a betting prostitution.
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While in prison, he left leg is
amputated and he begins to hear voices.
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This leads to his institutionalization.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
Genzel Starts carving in the (inaudible).
Hans Prinzhorn visits, him.
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A honking figure moving on one leg
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by means of rapid bouncing is
a grotesque site to behold.
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He acts out everything he says.
Both with his entire body
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and such forceful movements that
one readily believes the orderlies
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who claim that it takes at least
five of them to restrain him.
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Genzel starts out
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by making small scale reliefs.
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Later Genzel turns to sculpting.
Hermaphroditic beings like this double figure
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with both male and female
parts are a recurring motive.
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[music]
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Genzel wants to bridge the divide
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
between the sexes.
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[music]
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This figure bridges the gender gap.
Here a Christ king
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gives birth to his progeny.
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Genzel used chewed bread to shape his
early sculptures in the mental hospital.
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According to his doctors,
they were obscene in nature.
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None of them have survived.
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Later he began producing wood carvings.
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Because carvings sooths Genzel.
The director bends the rules
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and gives him his own work room, where he
is provided with wood and a carving knife.
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[music]
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When Prinzhorn starts working in Heidelberg
in 1919, the old university town
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on the Necker River enjoys a
reputation as the German Athens.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
Prinzhorn meets many of the intellectual
luminaries and great artists of the day
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
including Paul (inaudible), Max (inaudible),
Oskar Kokoschka, and (inaudible).
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
Prinzhorn becomes active in the so called community,
centering around art historian (inaudible)
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
who organizes lectures, theater
performances, readings and seminars.
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
A cosmopolitan spirit prevails in the city.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
This photograph, also taken in Heidelberg
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shows mental patient [Mary leaps]work in the
isolation chamber at the psychiatric clinic.
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
Using strips from the bed linens,
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
leap creates ornamental signs on the
floor that provide a blue print
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
of the world she lost. An enigmatic beauty
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
and a sense of inner peace
radiate from Mary Leap\'s works.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
They also capture a sense of powerlessness
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and an unwillingness to give up. We don\'t
not know how many of these installations
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she made in total, all that remains of them
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
are two photographs taken by staff
members which were placed in her file,
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while the photographs impressed
Prinzhorn he did not regards
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
the installations as being
expressions of genuine art.
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:15.000
[music]
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
This was not the only thing
Prinzhorn failed to recognize.
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
To him
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these letters full of
longing, written by Emma hug
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are merely examples of
decorative scribbling.
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
Today, we recognize their
striking emotional force
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and their undeniable originality. Emma
Hug seeks and outlet from her isolation
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
by writing letters to her husband that
reveal her loneliness and utter frustration.
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
In them she repeats the following
sentence countless times over.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
Darling come, do you want me,
I want to sit on your lap,
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check the train to see, if there isn\'t someone
there, well, give me a kiss, another,
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one more, come, come, come, come, your
right way, come, come, have a kissy,
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come, come, [Emma Hulk]is
institutionalized in 1909.
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She will never return to her
husband and two daughters.
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A jacket, made of hospital linens,
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it\'s been sewn and embroidered all
over by mental patient Agnes Richter.
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
[music]
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
After working as a servant in America,
Agnes Richter returns to Germany
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
with a modest fortune. Soon however,
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
she begins to feel threatens
and fears for her savings.
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
She is admitted to the (inaudible) in 1893,
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:25.000
where she will remain until
her death 25 years later.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
(inaudible) repeated refusal
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
to eat during her two years
in the insane asylum causes
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
the same stress to become so emaciated
that she weighs a mere 29 Kilograms
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
at the time of her death. Before she dies,
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
she crochets and knots this set consisting
of a tray, picture, and watering can.
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
It is a symbol of suffering and of
her desire to shape her environment.
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:48.000
[music]
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
Few of the works created by women in
mental institutions have survived.
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
However, the medical
records give us an idea
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
in what they were like. Occupies
herself with handy work and bed
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
is busy making a (inaudible) persistently
scribbles on the furniture, floor and walls.
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
Made herself a pair of
trousers out of her apron,
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
scratches objects, makes all
sort of things from seaweed,
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
screams at the top of her lungs,
uses rags to make a ball,
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
which she then proceeds to embellish
with a nose and pair of glasses.
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:43.000
[music]
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:18.000
[sil.]
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
Some patients grasps
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
the world in think notebooks.
Former merchant (inaudible)
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
designs elaborate calendars thus
structuring his world by calculating time.
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:18.000
[music]
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
(inaudible) believes he is the
head of a global commercial empire
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
which he as outfitted with a branch
for each member of his family.
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:48.000
[music]
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
In his attempt to impose order on the world
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
(inaudible) draws enigmatic symbols and invents
new ways of categorizing colors and shapes.
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
[music]
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
Diagnosed with dementia praecox (inaudible)
is confined to various institutions
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
from 1908 onward. His
meticulous calculations of time
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
extend decades beyond his own lifespan
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
well into the present century.
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:38.000
The staff at the mental hospital notes,
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
he is kept occupied with paper work which is
beautifully executed. However, he also uses
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
considerable amounts of paper
for his personal writings.
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
[music]
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
My field is my world.
As (inaudible) puts it.
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
It is a world entirely of his own design.
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
A world he shapes for
more than four decades,
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
from behind the insurmountable
walls of mental institutions.
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
[music]
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
Prinzhorn is intrigued by Grabing
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
and visits him numerous times.
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
Grabings confinement has left him in a state of utter
despair and he looks to Prinzhorn\'s collection for hope.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
\"The world has never seen
anything like it,\" he says.
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:23.000
[music]
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:43.000
According to the plans
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
of the draftsmen Joseph Schneller it would
take 400 years to complete construction
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
of all the buildings of his project,
(inaudible) a gigantic brothel.
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
Schneller customarily signs his work with
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
or Elite Worlds Nature Manager.
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
He is convinced
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
that it is up to him to preserve
the Aristocracies way of life.
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
To do it his bodily fluids
are extracted by a machine
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
and administered to aged potentates by
means of an organ and extremity substance
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
replacement transmission.
Joseph Schneller is admitted to
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
an institution in (inaudible) near Munich
in 1907, when Prinzhon visits him there,
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
he notice… Persecution complex,
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
it is impossible to determine to what
extent Psychosis has freed his imagination.
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
The light blond and very
pale man\'s excitability
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
causes him to be confined to his bed in
a single room, almost all of the time.
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
And he is particularly detached.
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
He is very reticent to talk about his work.
With the exception of his sadistic magnum opus
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
he thinks in difference about his
work and tried to explain it away
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
as a trivial pastime. The opus
consists of a series of drawings,
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
for the most part depicting
brawls and tantalizing acts
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
which focus exclusively on female inhabitants
of institutions or penitentiaries.
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
Bath rooms, gymnasiums and
toilets, figuring prominently.
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
[music]
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
Schneller\'s depression
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
is rooted in his fear of the opposite sex.
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
Draftsman Joseph Schneller is one of
the 10 Schizophrenic masters featured
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
in Prinzhorn\'s books \"Artistry
of the mentally ill.\"
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
The driven Prinzhon completes the book in
his cabin in the black forest in 1922.
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
The cabin is a refuge
from the outside world
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
and Prinzhorn returns time and
again to find the peace and quiet
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
he needs to write.
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
[music]
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
Due to tensions with his direct superior,
Professor (inaudible) and his colleagues,
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
Prinzhorns resigns his position
as a junior doctor in Heidelberg,
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
confused about himself and the world, he
sees himself as an outsider his entire life.
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
However, he is not completely solitary.
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
He remains in contact with
scientists and artists.
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
Some of whom come to
visit him at his cabin.
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
Today, the cabin is more
or less as it was then.
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
Subject to mood swings,
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
Hans Prinzhorn finds it
difficult to work on his book.
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
It\'s awful how I tried to
do too many things at once,
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
and in doing so I can\'t make head
way with my work on the pictures.
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
Neither on the two case studies on Mr.
(inaudible) and Ms. (inaudible)
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
nor on the schizophrenic artists.
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
But there are moments of optimism as well. I
just wrapped up my study of the woodcarver
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
and I\'ve touched on some
good compelling things.
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
[music]
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
Hans Prinzhorn hopes to be on the verge
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
of finally gaining public recognition.
But the onset of depression
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
causes him to withdraw more and more.
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
The world is getting faster and faster,
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
thus posing a threat to humanity
as a constituency of individuals,
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
cities are getting larger all the time, trains and
automobiles accelerate the pace of daily life,
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
whereas social connections are
becoming less and less significant,
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
(inaudible) 20s of underlying anxiety.
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
[music]
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
The work place is rapidly changing,
machines and new technology
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
both fascinate and frighten people
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
it comes as no surprise that they
feature in many patients psychosis.
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
[music]
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
An extraordinary contraption
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
made of leather tubes, wooden
barrels, and planks, the air loom
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
is a machine intended to
influence the human mind.
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
The Welch tea merchant, James Tilly Matthews
came up with this monstrous apparatus
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
in the infamous London
insane asylum, Bedlum.
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
He was convinced that this sort of
machine could influence his will
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
by dissipating noxious odors.
An English artist
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
has created a replica of the air loom
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
for the Prinzhorn Collection.
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
The replica was build using Matthews
detailed construction plans.
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
The plans reveal
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
a conspiracy. A crime
(inaudible) using the apparatus
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
to manipulate society.
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:28.000
[music]
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
Machines often figure
prominently in the images
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
by male patients, as is the case with
this portable oppression mechanism.
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
Farmer (inaudible) believed himself
to be the victim of invisible,
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
electrically generated waves.
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:58.000
[music]
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
Moore suffers from acute paranoia and insists
on wearing a shirt made of metal foil
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
to protect himself against
electrical currents and neurotoxins.
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
In his drawings judicial murder,
Moore appears at a court of law,
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
he is an innocent undergoing persecution.
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
His enemies have used the portable
apparition mechanism against him.
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
(inaudible)
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
situation is very different. He has created
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
so called \"Will Curves.\" These are
graphic depictions that emanate
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
a power of their own.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
They are harmful for
other people to look at.
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:55.000
[music]
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
According to Prinzhorn,
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
Weiser\'s drawings work like magic, for he
believes he can simply spread graphite on paper
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
and then we distributed
into lines and shapes
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:20.000
merely by looking at it.
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
Weiser relies on white magic to make oppressive
outer and inner spears more bearable.
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
This was and remains typical,
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:05.000
psychotic behavior.
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
Hans Prinzhorn battles with depression,
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
in addition to his book being poorly
received among his colleagues,
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
he is denied as sort after professorship.
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
Convinced that there is
no future him in Germany,
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
Prinzhorn goes on extended lecture tours in
the 1920s that even take him to America.
00:45:55.000 --> 00:46:00.000
[music]
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
Prinzhorn experiences the Nazi\'s rise
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
to power first hand. He has mixed
feelings about the burgeoning movement.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
He hopes it will pave the way for
new beginnings at the same time.
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:50.000
He has highly critical of its
views, works culture is concerned.
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
My personality evidently
inspires other people
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
to spread rumors about me and
I would have plenty to do.
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
Even I was just warding
off at 10th of the Man
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
to I have to deal with. Although I don\'t have
any official ties to the Nazi party whatsoever,
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
I never refused to my
advice on cultural issues
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
when asked for it. In short, my main
concern was to keep calamity at bay.
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
Prinzhorn dies before the
Nazi\'s miss appropriate
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
his collection for their purposes. The
new head of psychiatry in Heidelberg,
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
who assumes his post to
1933 authorizes the use
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
of the collections art works for the Nazi
exhibition entitled \"Degenerate Art.\"
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
After debuting in Munich in 1937,
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
the exhibition travels to
other major German cities.
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
Modern art is shown alongside works
produced by the mentally ill.
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
Among the pieces on loan
from Prinzhorn Collection
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:50.000
are works by Elissa
Blankenhorn and Karl Genzel.
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
It could be both superficial and wrong to assume
that the mental states of the people who produced
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
the work are similar simply based
on the stylistic similarities.
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
The conclusion that this painter must be mentally ill,
because he paints like someone who is mentally ill
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
is as preposterous as the assumption that
(inaudible) are Negros from Cameroon,
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
because they carve wooden figures much
like those of the Negros from Cameroon do.
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
The miss appropriation of
Prinzhorn\'s collection
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
was but the (inaudible) of
the atrocities to come.
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
In the fold of 1939,
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
Hitler authorized the mass
extermination of the incurably ill.
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:10.000
[music]
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:35.000
[music]
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:10.000
[music]
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
The mass extermination head
quartered at (inaudible)
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:30.000
number 4 in Berlin, is given a code name \"Action
T4\" it claims more than 200,000 victims.
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:53.000
[music]
00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
This road leads to Grafeneck,
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
one of the former extermination camps.
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
[music]
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
Patients are brought here
from all over in gray buses,
00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:20.000
which became synonymous with
malice as time went on.
00:54:35.000 --> 00:54:39.999
The killing industry is launched in
Grafeneck. Thousands of innocent patients
00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:44.999
are put to death here. This shack is used
00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:49.999
as carbon monoxide gas chamber. A
witness will later testify that
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:54.999
the apparatus had to be operated by a
doctor and that the law stated that
00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:59.999
only a doctor was authorized to kill.
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.999
Smoke can be seen coming from the
crematorium around the clock.
00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:09.999
Falsified death certificates are
issued to disguise these mass murders.
00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:14.999
The precise target number
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:19.999
of killings is reached by the
time Action T4 is ended in 1941.
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:25.000
[sil.]
00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:09.999
Franz Karl Buhler
00:56:10.000 --> 00:56:14.999
spends more than 42 years
of his life in institutions
00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.999
before being put to death in a gas
chamber on March the 5th in 1940.
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:24.999
Buhler is Prinzhorns favorite
schizophrenic artist.
00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.999
He believes himself to be a
Doctor at the mental institute.
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:34.999
In line with this, Doctor Buhler
keeps files of his fellow patients
00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:39.999
and documents life at the institute.
00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:48.000
[music]
00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:19.999
This is a gate fashioned
by Franz Karl Buhler,
00:57:20.000 --> 00:57:24.999
a skilled rot iron craftsman.
Buhler was regarded
00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.999
as (inaudible) in his trade. In 1893, he
was recognized at the Chicago World\'s Fair
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:34.999
for his achievement in rot iron crafting.
He lectures
00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:39.999
at the school of decorative arts and Strasberg until a
clash with the school\'s director costs him his job.
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:44.999
He is accused of being unreliable
and over writing authority.
00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:49.999
He writes a 31 page letter in his
defense which goes to unanswered
00:57:50.000 --> 00:57:54.999
feeling ostracized he lapses into a state
of paranoia. Buhler is plagued by anxiety
00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:59.999
and becomes disoriented, finally
he is institutionalized.
00:58:00.000 --> 00:58:04.999
At the institution, he turns to other means
00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:09.999
of continuing his art. Buhler\'s early drawings
service the inspiration for colorful,
00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:14.999
phantasmagorical and visionary art works.
00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:19.999
Buhler has been at the institute
00:58:20.000 --> 00:58:24.999
for 22 years, when Prinzhorn
pays him a visit.
00:58:25.000 --> 00:58:29.999
The little fellow with the big head, black
hair, and beard, whose eyes were both dark
00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:34.999
and luminous conducted himself in a
calm yet utterly theatrical way.
00:58:35.000 --> 00:58:39.999
He spoke slowly,
articulately and affectedly
00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:44.999
with a friendly smile and was thoroughly
engaging. All though it was hard
00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:49.999
to make sense of what he said.
00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:54.999
Buhler often shows to portray himself
in his paintings in this one,
00:58:55.000 --> 00:58:59.999
he has depicted himself as a
Harlequin enticed by women.
00:59:00.000 --> 00:59:04.999
Here, the painter is seen
00:59:05.000 --> 00:59:09.999
in the arms of an angle as he
shields himself with his pallet.
00:59:10.000 --> 00:59:14.999
[music]
00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:19.999
But Prinzhorn isn\'t the Schizophrenic
artists only champion,
00:59:20.000 --> 00:59:24.999
expressionist artist Alfred Kubin
is also passionate about his work.
00:59:25.000 --> 00:59:29.999
In 1922, he states in and art magazine
that it\'s hard to believe that a mad man
00:59:30.000 --> 00:59:34.999
could create art work characterized
by such an economic use of color.
00:59:35.000 --> 00:59:43.000
[music]
00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:53.000
Painter Max Ernst
01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:24.999
then living in Paris saw the work
of schizophrenic August Naterer
01:00:25.000 --> 01:00:29.999
as a source of inspiration.
01:00:30.000 --> 01:00:34.999
Naterer\'s miraculous
shepherd is a case in point.
01:00:35.000 --> 01:00:39.999
Max Ernst has solely familiarized himself
01:00:40.000 --> 01:00:44.999
with the collections art works,
widely deceptions in Prinzhorns book
01:00:45.000 --> 01:00:49.999
which created a pure
among artists in Paris.
01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:54.999
Expressionist painter,
01:00:55.000 --> 01:00:59.999
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, however saw the actual
works of Prinzhorn\'s artist Eliza blankenhorn.
01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:04.999
She was a patient at a
renowned Swiss Sanatorium,
01:01:05.000 --> 01:01:09.999
Azel Bellevue, located in
(inaudible) in lake Constance.
01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:14.999
In addition to being a clinic,
Bellevue was an artist\'s heaven,
01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:19.999
where such illustrious guests as
(inaudible) art historian, (inaudible),
01:01:20.000 --> 01:01:24.999
and the afore mentioned painter,
01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:29.999
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner all stayed. The oil
painting, red, white on a red horse,
01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:34.999
by mental patient by Eliza Blankenhorn
left a lasting impression on the Kirchner,
01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:39.999
her work embodied everything
he has set out to do.
01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:44.999
Coming from a wealthy
family she began her stay
01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:49.999
at Bellevue in 1901 with a
personal attendant at her side.
01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:54.999
She has shattered by her father\'s
death and is institutionalized.
01:01:55.000 --> 01:01:59.999
She takes up painting after living
at the institution for seven years.
01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:04.999
Her oil paintings and written work
01:02:05.000 --> 01:02:09.999
which he takes great paints to conceal
other doorway to her personal universe.
01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:14.999
A great deal of Eliza Blankenhorn
01:02:15.000 --> 01:02:19.999
is thematically linked to what she
conceders to be her purpose in life
01:02:20.000 --> 01:02:24.999
as is dictated to her by voices in
her head. This consists of painting
01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:29.999
her own currency, so that she can pay for the
deceased couples to be dug up from the earth
01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:34.999
and be delivered to salvation.
These bank notes
01:02:35.000 --> 01:02:39.999
comes in incredible denominations,
such as in (inaudible).
01:02:40.000 --> 01:02:44.999
And shell winged angelic beings
01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:49.999
in an infinite number of variations.
01:02:50.000 --> 01:02:54.999
Her doctor notes that the angles have no
distinguishable gender, the legs are conjoined,
01:02:55.000 --> 01:02:59.999
undoubtedly as a means of
ensuring their purity.
01:03:00.000 --> 01:03:04.999
The feminine figures in her
work have a weightless,
01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:09.999
almost incorporeal quality to them.
01:03:10.000 --> 01:03:14.999
Unable to survive as a women in
the outside world, she dreams
01:03:15.000 --> 01:03:19.999
and fantasizes about perfect love.
01:03:20.000 --> 01:03:24.999
Eliza Blankenhorn\'s paintings speak to
this great artist\'s legacy of desire
01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:29.999
which remains relevant to this day.
And she is not even mentioned
01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:34.999
among the 10 masters in
Artistry Of The Mentally Ill.
01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:39.999
[music]
01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:44.999
During his life
01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:49.999
Prinzhorn intended to write
a monograph about her,
01:03:50.000 --> 01:03:54.999
but his premature death
prevented him from doing so.
01:03:55.000 --> 01:04:00.000
[music]
01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:05.000
[sil.]
01:06:20.000 --> 01:06:24.999
Today, drawing and painting are
encouraged in mental health facilities.
01:06:25.000 --> 01:06:29.999
In addition to administering
drugs various forms of therapy
01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:34.999
are used to treat patients.
Arch therapy is one such form,
01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:40.000
and Hans Prinzhorn helped pave the way.
01:07:30.000 --> 01:07:35.000
[sil.]
01:10:05.000 --> 01:10:13.000
In the years
01:10:55.000 --> 01:10:59.999
immediately following World War II, the Prinzhorn
Collection is seen as just the work of lunatics
01:11:00.000 --> 01:11:04.999
and virtually ignored by the world.
01:11:05.000 --> 01:11:09.999
In 1963 after years of collecting dust at
the psychiatric clinic at the University of
01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:15.000
the Heidelberg the art works are
uncovered by the curator Harald Zaimon.
01:12:35.000 --> 01:12:39.999
The Hans Prinzhorn Collectiuon
grows from year to year.
01:12:40.000 --> 01:12:44.999
It has toured throughout Europe,
The USA, and Japan. Since 2001,
01:12:45.000 --> 01:12:49.999
it\'s been on exhibition in a former
auditory of the University of Heidelberg.
01:12:50.000 --> 01:12:54.999
Today the Prinzhorn Collection has
gained acclaimed throughout the world
01:12:55.000 --> 01:13:00.000
and enjoys the status it deserves.
01:15:10.000 --> 01:15:15.000
[sil.]
01:15:40.000 --> 01:15:48.000
[music]
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 75 minutes
Date: 2007
Genre: Expository
Language: English; German / English subtitles
Grade: 11-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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