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Lot Essay
Not far from Vienna, in the village of Klosterneuburg is the home of an extraordinary number of artists, the Haus der Künstler. On the grounds of a traditional psychiatric hospital, the Niedervsterreichische Landesnervenklinik Gugging, the Haus der Künstler is alive with almost frenetic creative energy and production. Although the Haus was christened officially in June 1981, the tradition of creative expression at Gugging had been thriving for the previous forty years.
Through the work of Dr. Leo Navratil, who began work at the hospital in 1946, what was once regarded as the soulless scribbles of the terminally insane became appreciated as the expression of true artistic talents. Navratil began to use patient drawings to help diagnose psychiatric conditions and encouraged the patients to continue their work as a means to track the movement of the individual's disorders. Often, Navratil found the representation of the human form and other shapes changed as the patient experienced different intensities of his disease.
These observations piqued his curiosities about creativity and mental illness and he began to view the patients' drawings as more than just data; he began to appreciate their inherent artistic value. Throughout the 1960s, Navratil consulted with many Viennese painters about the potential of his patients' productions. Bolstered by their praise and support, Navratil arranged a showing of the Gugging artists' work at one of Vienna's most important galleries, the Galerie nachst St. Stephan. The show opened to great popular and critical acclaim, which continues to this date.
Navratil was able to open a building separate from the often spirit-crushing environment of a psychiatric hospital. At their new Haus der Künstler, the patients are able to create at their whim, when and where they pleased. Unlike the regimented sessions in the hospital proper, they could create when the spirit moved them. Free from previous boundaries, the patients took their pencil, crayons and paint from their drawing paper to the walls, ceilings and outlying buildings.
Navratil continued to show his patients' work both in galleries and in the exhibition space at the Haus der Künstler. August Walla, Johann Fischer, Johann Hauser, Franz Kernbeis, Philipp Schöpke, Johann Korec and Franz Kamlander, all artists in this collection, are but a few of the names who have transcended the role of institutionalized patient to become respected and sought-after artists.
Hauser is among the most important Gugging artists, and his work has been shown throughout Europe since the early 1970s. In and out of mental institutions through his youth in Slovenia, and diagnosed with a variety of mental disorders including schizophrenia, Johann Hauser began to draw with the encouragement of his doctor Leo Navratil. From that date in 1959, Hauser drew passionately, and in time was himself drawn increasingly out of his reclusive state. His drawings evolved with and reflect his mental states, and details of his work belie variously these manic or depressive swings and are informed by his increasing self-awareness. Using primarily pencils and crayons, Hauser experimented with colors to create deeply saturated and colorful works. Among his most favorite subject matter is women, who usually appear as demonic nudes and are often depicted erotically or as warriors, or both. Magazine illustrations are also utilized in his compositions and most of his works feature a large and prominent signature.
Through the work of Dr. Leo Navratil, who began work at the hospital in 1946, what was once regarded as the soulless scribbles of the terminally insane became appreciated as the expression of true artistic talents. Navratil began to use patient drawings to help diagnose psychiatric conditions and encouraged the patients to continue their work as a means to track the movement of the individual's disorders. Often, Navratil found the representation of the human form and other shapes changed as the patient experienced different intensities of his disease.
These observations piqued his curiosities about creativity and mental illness and he began to view the patients' drawings as more than just data; he began to appreciate their inherent artistic value. Throughout the 1960s, Navratil consulted with many Viennese painters about the potential of his patients' productions. Bolstered by their praise and support, Navratil arranged a showing of the Gugging artists' work at one of Vienna's most important galleries, the Galerie nachst St. Stephan. The show opened to great popular and critical acclaim, which continues to this date.
Navratil was able to open a building separate from the often spirit-crushing environment of a psychiatric hospital. At their new Haus der Künstler, the patients are able to create at their whim, when and where they pleased. Unlike the regimented sessions in the hospital proper, they could create when the spirit moved them. Free from previous boundaries, the patients took their pencil, crayons and paint from their drawing paper to the walls, ceilings and outlying buildings.
Navratil continued to show his patients' work both in galleries and in the exhibition space at the Haus der Künstler. August Walla, Johann Fischer, Johann Hauser, Franz Kernbeis, Philipp Schöpke, Johann Korec and Franz Kamlander, all artists in this collection, are but a few of the names who have transcended the role of institutionalized patient to become respected and sought-after artists.
Hauser is among the most important Gugging artists, and his work has been shown throughout Europe since the early 1970s. In and out of mental institutions through his youth in Slovenia, and diagnosed with a variety of mental disorders including schizophrenia, Johann Hauser began to draw with the encouragement of his doctor Leo Navratil. From that date in 1959, Hauser drew passionately, and in time was himself drawn increasingly out of his reclusive state. His drawings evolved with and reflect his mental states, and details of his work belie variously these manic or depressive swings and are informed by his increasing self-awareness. Using primarily pencils and crayons, Hauser experimented with colors to create deeply saturated and colorful works. Among his most favorite subject matter is women, who usually appear as demonic nudes and are often depicted erotically or as warriors, or both. Magazine illustrations are also utilized in his compositions and most of his works feature a large and prominent signature.