Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry, Radical Politics, and Art, published by the American Folk Art Museum, gathers critical essays by various authors. Edited by Joana Masó, Carles Guerra, Valérie Rousseau, Edward Dioguardi, and Margarita Sánchez Urdaneta, the publication expands upon the exhibition Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut.
Fleeing Franco's Nationalist government during the Spanish Civil War, Catalan psychiatrist Francesc Tosquelles (1912-1994) arrived in 1940 at the Saint-Alban psychiatric hospital in the South of France. There, he pioneered avant-garde psychiatric practices that came to be known as "institutional psychotherapy," aiming to cure mental illness and psychiatric institutions alike. Tosquelles fostered nonhierarchical interactions among patients, medical staff, laborers, and rural communities. During the German occupation of France, the Saint-Alban "asylum-village" became a haven for political dissidents and artistic figures, who were exposed to the remarkable creations of its patients, like Auguste Forestier, Marguerite Sirvins, and Aimable Jayet. Seeing these works prompted French artist Jean Dubuffet to coin the notion of "art brut" in 1945, beginning his celebrated collection. This publication explores Tosquelles's subterranean influence on twentieth-century intellectual life, linking him to Antonin Artaud, Paul Eluard, Frantz Fanon, and Jean Oury, among others. It also delves into his legacy in the context of United States mental health history.
Contributors include the exhibition's curators Joana Masó, Carles Guerra, Valérie Rousseau, and Edward Dioguardi, as well as Mireille Berton, Christophe Boulanger, Kaira M. Cabañas, Éric Fassin, Savine Faupin, Jean Khalfa, Raphaël Koenig, Sarah Lombardi, Josée Manenti, Julien Michel, W. J. T. Mitchell, Camille Robcis, Mireia Sallarès, Martin Summers, and Annabelle Ténèze.
- Softcover
- 6.5"L x 1"W x 9.5"H
- 356 pages
Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry, Radial Politics, and Art expands upon the exhibition Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut presented at AFAM from April to August 2024, and co-organized by the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). Lead support for the publication and exhibition is provided by the Institut Ramon Llull, Nina Beaty, Susan Weiler, and the Anthony Petullo Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, the Art Dealers Association of America Foundation, the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Ellen Still Brooks, and the David Davies & Jack Weeden Fund for Exhibitions. This publication is created in collaboration with Arcàdia.
