Styles & Movements

Art Brut

The conception of Art Brut is generally attributed to artist Jean Dubuffet, who used it in the 1940s to describe works of art in which technical training and academic art culture do not play a role. Rather works are produced entirely from the individual's psyche. Such an individual would be living on the margins of society and would therefore not be exposed to art schools, galleries, and museums. Dubuffet was most interested in art produced by the inmates of psychiatric hospitals and prisons, and collected such art as the prime examples of Art Brut.