From Psychopathology to Psychotherapy through Art Expression: A Focus on Hans Prinzhorn and Others

Abstract

This article is condensed from a paper presented in connection with the Prinzhorn Exhibit, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, February 1985. Reference is made to the “magic power of the image” (Kris, 1952) and to modern healers as they practice art therapy. Major writers in art therapy, psychiatry and psychology from the 1800s and 1900s are identified, with reference to their contributions to mental health and the healing process. Focus is given to the contribution of Hans Prinzhorn, whose monograph published in 1922 (translated: The Pictorial Works of a Mental Patient: A Contribution to the Psychology and Psychopathology of the “Gestaltung”) is considered a hallmark in art therapy and mental health literature. Several hundred items from his collection of art by mental patients were included in the exhibit; these works serve as a testimony to the wisdom—although considered revolutionary at the time—of the creative Viennese art historian and psychiatrist, Hans Prinzhorn.