<p>German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn explored the use of expressive art as therapy. The published works of his patients inspired the surrealists and other interwar modern artists, but proved a foil to Hitler's attacks on "degenerate" art and the state killing of the mentally ill.</p>
<p>German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn explored the use of expressive art as therapy. The published works of his patients inspired the surrealists and other interwar modern artists, but proved a foil to Hitler's attacks on "degenerate" art and the state killing of the mentally ill.</p>
Hitler's war on German modernist art and its 'degenerate' founders explored in a new book dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Thu 5 Aug 2021 02.30 EDT
In 1922 Hans Prinzhorn, a Heidelberg psychiatrist, published a book that set the art world on fire. At first glance
Artistry of the Mentally Ill didnât sound as if it was breaking new ground. Ever since the 19th century, medical men working in asylums â âmad doctorsâ by another name â had pored over the drawings, paintings and sculptures of their more nimble-fingered patients to see if they could discern some sign or signature of madness. Was it possible to spot schizophrenia just by looking at the way someone drew a horse or coloured in the sky? Could you discern neurosis simply because an artist had failed to give her figures two eyes and a mouth?