Definition of Outsider Art
The boundaries of Outsider Art have been blurred since writer and art historian Roger Cardinal introduced the term in 1972, with a book of the same name. The most widely accepted criteria, upon which this pathfinder is based, are as follows:
  • The artists are ignorant of artistic traditions, lack professional training, and have no interest in infiltrating the professional art world. They create from an inner need rather than for an outside audience.
  • Their art stems from personal visions rather than family or cultural traditions.
  • They often work in isolation and live outside mainstream society (mental patients, recluses, eccentrics).


More Information
The majority of the artists included in these resources are either mental patients and recluses (examples: Adolf Wolfli and Henry Darger) or creators of folk art environments, large three-dimensional spaces transformed into works of art (examples: Robert Tatin's Frenouse in France and Watts Towers in Los Angeles).

The term Art Brut (French for "raw art") has become synonymous with Outsider Art, though it was originally reserved for works in the seminal collection of artist, collector and scholar Jean Dubuffet. He coined the term in 1945 in reference to works created by psychiatric patients and housed today in the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland. Several sources listed in this pathfinder refer to Art Brut in their titles or content.

For the purposes of this pathfinder, Outsider Art does not include "folk art" in general, which often refers to works based on local tradition or craft art. However, some reference sources include folk art, as no more specific sources are available.

For those interested in a more explicit definition or a comparison of synonyms (outsider art, art brut, visionary art, folk art), definitions from primary resources have been included here. All sources are discussed in the Online Resources section.
 

This site created by Kristin Fiore on March 3, 2003.