OUTSIDER ART—FORTY YEARS out by Linda Rainaldi B.A., The
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OUTSIDER ART—FORTY YEARS OUT by Linda Rainaldi B.A., The University of British Columbia, 1975 LL.B., The University of British Columbia, 1979 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Curriculum and Pedagogy, Art Education) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2015 © Linda Rainaldi, 2015 Abstract French artist Jean Dubuffet delivered an anti-cultural manifesto in the 1940s. He fought against the status quo in the art world and argued against the traditions of art history, where art is studied in the context of its historical development and where art standards are the result of cultural conditioning and the opinions of art critics. To illustrate his thesis, Dubuffet went on to create an art collection, which he called art brut, from artists who he believed were not influenced by culture or social norms. In 1972 Roger Cardinal, a British scholar, wrote a book about art brut, calling it outsider art. Many new definitions of outsider art subsequently evolved, particularly in the United States, and there has been little agreement on the definition of outsider art or the terminology coined to describe it. This thesis examines the American and European perspectives on outsider art and suggests the underlying biases, ideologies, and social factors that informed the definitions, such as the myths surrounding mental illness, movements towards social inclusion, and movements away from the marginalizing effect of labels. As outsider art gains more recognition in the art world, some defend its categorization as a separate genre of art while others challenge the need to keep it separate from mainstream art, and those reasons are explored. Finally, it is suggested that there may be little value in attaching labels to any genre of art because every definition of outsider art reflects the biases and personal logic of its author. Dialogue and debate are encouraged and suggestions for continuing research are outlined. ii Preface Ethics approval for this research was granted by the UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board. The Ethics Certificate Number is Outsider Art H14-02811. This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Linda Rainaldi. iii Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ii Preface .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... vii Dedication ....................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Thesis Inquiry ........................................................................................................................ 1 Terminology .......................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................... 6 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 6 The Creation of Art Brut ....................................................................................................... 7 Image making ................................................................................................................................ 7 Reaction to institutional art .......................................................................................................... 7 Challenging the status quo ........................................................................................................... 8 Art brut ......................................................................................................................................... 9 Beyond Art Brut .................................................................................................................. 11 Neuve invention .......................................................................................................................... 12 Outsider art ................................................................................................................................. 13 Self-taught art ............................................................................................................................. 14 Visionary or intuitive art ............................................................................................................. 14 Naïve art ..................................................................................................................................... 14 iv Visionary environments .............................................................................................................. 15 Folk art and contemporary folk art ............................................................................................. 15 Marginal art and art singulier ..................................................................................................... 15 Defining Outsider Art .......................................................................................................... 15 The expanding definition ............................................................................................................ 16 A spectrum of “outsiderness” ..................................................................................................... 17 The artist’s biography ................................................................................................................. 18 Stylistic indicators ....................................................................................................................... 18 The artist’s distance from mainstream art ................................................................................. 20 Social factors and marginalization .............................................................................................. 21 Chapter 3: The Search for Authenticity .............................................................................. 24 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 24 Authenticity and Mental Illness .......................................................................................... 24 The mad genius persona ............................................................................................................. 25 Overlapping Concepts and Terminology ............................................................................. 29 Folk Art in Europe ............................................................................................................... 30 Outsider Art in Europe ........................................................................................................ 31 United States ...................................................................................................................... 34 Folk art ........................................................................................................................................ 35 Outsider art becomes self-taught art ......................................................................................... 37 African-American self-taught art from the South ....................................................................... 39 The Search for Consistency ................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 4: The Inside View ................................................................................................ 43 v Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 43 The Artists ........................................................................................................................... 44 The Art Dealers ................................................................................................................... 53 Integrating Multiple Factors ............................................................................................... 59 Chapter 5: What’s In a Name? ........................................................................................... 60 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 60 Reconciling Multiple Views ................................................................................................. 60 Disintegration or Integration of Outsider Art? ................................................................... 62 Keep separate categories ........................................................................................................... 62 Remove the boundary ................................................................................................................ 62 Chapter