Intersections between Art History and the History of Psychology

Catalog description

ARTH 222Q : Intersections between Art History and Psychology Why is there a cultural association between mental illness and artistic creation? What is the history of this association? Is there a psychological foundation for it or is it a cultural stereotype with no basis in reality? To address these questions this course will explore the integrated histories of modern psychology and avant-garde art from the late 19th century to the present, comparing the different approaches to the topic in the disciplines of art history and psychology. We will discuss the possible benefits and drawbacks of each approach. By celebrating genius, art history has often been complicit in perpetuating the stereotype of the "mad" artist, even romanticizing it and discounting the reality of disease; whereas psychologists often view images as symptoms, misinterpreting the art historical context in which artists work. Interestingly, avant-garde art has often been associated with "insanity" with both negative and positive connotations. As a history of art and psychology course, the syllabus is organized as a chronological survey focusing on points of intersection between avant-garde art and psychology. Many of these points will be the lives and works of individual artists who either suffered mental illness, such as Vincent van Gogh, or engaged with psychology and mental illness as the subject of their art, as did Edvard Munch, the creator of the famous image, The Scream. In each case it is interesting to look at the reciprocity between the two disciplines: how the artists represented mental illness and transformed psychological theories into visual art and how psychologists and the medical establishment have responded to these artists, using them as diagnostic subjects. We will look specifically at bi-polar disorder and the psychological debates surrounding its relationship to artistic creativity. We will also look at larger avant-garde movements such as Expressionism and Surrealism, movements inspired by therapeutic practices, the art of mental patients, and psychoanalytic theory. We will look at the legacy of each of these movements in contemporary avant-garde art, including attitudes toward Outsider or Visionary artists and modern art therapy. Particular emphasis will be placed on psychoanalytic theory. Sigmund Freud's interest in art impacted his work and has rendered his writings conducive to artistic interpretation even today, although his theories have been rejected by many contemporary psychologists. We will look at artists who directly responded to Freud's writings such as Max Ernst and Salvador Dali, female surrealists such as Leonora Carrington, and issues surrounding "hysteria" as it was adopted by both male and female surrealists as a model for creative expression, and which continues to inform feminist art practices today. While contemporary avant-garde artists continue to respond to various psychological theories and practices, contemporary psychologists use formal analysis to understand the art of mental patients and employ artistic practices in the development of modern art therapy.