‘(Un)healthy Minds’ and Visual and Tactile Arts, c.1900–1950

Abstract

This chapter examines multifaceted intersections between art and mental health in the first half of the twentieth century. Art was an arena in which approaches to psychological health were not only produced and developed but also challenged and even exploited. While artwork by professional artists was conceptualised as having psychological benefits for viewers and visual and tactile art-making practices were formulated as occupational therapy and art therapy, concurrently some modern artists rejected the associations of a ‘healthy mind’ and appropriated mental illness for avant-garde ends. This chapter explores the function of art in shaping treatments and cultural perceptions both within and outside psychiatric institutions conventionally associated with defining and maintaining mental health.