We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Culture

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is Art Brut?

By R. Bargar
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 9,580
Share

The French artist Jean Dubuffet devised the term "art brut" in the 1940s. Meaning raw art, the term indicates art done by untrained artists working completely outside the conventions of traditional art and society. Strongly influenced by books detailing art produced by patients in insane asylums, Dubuffet began collecting artworks by institutionalized mental patients, prisoners and others whose art was disconnected from the restraints of society. Dubuffet believed a pure form of art, springing straight from the depths of the artist’s psyche, existed in this raw art. By the end of the 1940s, he collaborated with other artists to create a compilation of examples that would become the “Collection de l’Art Brut,” now located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Works of art brut studied and collected by Dubuffet expressed the deepest fears and dreams of institutionalized psychiatric patients and prisoners. Crude drawings of counterfeit money created on toilet paper and used by the hospitalized artist to try to pay her psychiatrist raise probing questions about symbolism and irony. This example of art brut typifies the individual nature and driving personal necessity behind the creation of these works. The concepts of marketability and acceptance in the art world, daily concerns of mainstream artists, simply do not exist for the creators of art brut.

Although not exactly equivalent to art brut, the term "outsider art" is widely used in the English-speaking world to denote similar art. While Dubuffet concentrated mainly on collecting insane-asylum art and the work of prisoners, outsider art has a broader focus. In the strictest terms, creators of art brut lived on the very margins of society, having no interaction with academic institutions or galleries. On the other hand, outsider artists may have no technical training in art, but often live within society. Like the creators of raw art, outsider artists are driven by inner visions and their own sense of creativity, rather than by the conventions of academic or professional art.

Dubuffet believed that all new forms of art are eventually assimilated into mainstream art. This transformation causes the art to lose its power of original creativity. Some in the art world see this occurring with outsider art. Rather than being exclusively the realm of visionaries or artists working completely outside the traditional ideals of art, the term is now used to market the works of any untrained or unconventional artist. Many believe the increasing recognition and acceptance of art brut and outsider art has transformed it from raw art to popular art.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/what-is-art-brut.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.