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Louis Wain's Schizophrenic Art.

By Alex in Arts & Crafts, Pictures on Feb 21, 2006 at 2:02 am


Louis Wain drew cats, even after he was committed to an insane asylum due to schizophrenia. Take a look at the changes in Wain’s art as his mental illness worsen. Link

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  1. Adam
    Feb 23rd, 2006 at 8:41 am

    Oingo Boingo fans should recognize the second image from the left. They used it on buttons and other merch in the 80s.

  2. Zorg
    Feb 23rd, 2006 at 9:03 am

    Time-Life Science series readers should recognize all of them. In fact, the whole site is liberally sprinkled with images that appear to be scanned from a Time-Life Science book called The Mind. Important childhood reading shared by at least one generation of now middle-aged geeks ...

  3. flam
    Aug 28th, 2006 at 5:01 pm

    This is a well know myth.
    Whilst it is true that Louis Wain suffered from illness,
    these images were not produced in the time-frame or order described in various texts linking them to progressive schizophrenia.

  4. L K Tucker
    Jan 16th, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    Note that as the image degraded his ability to paint never decreased. Van Gogh on the other hand had a less precise style.

    There has been an observed connection with mental illness, high intelligence and gifted individuals. No one has previously suggested a viable explanation. VisionAndPsychosis.Net points to a little known problem of physiology.

    Subliminal Distraction is explained in college psychology under psychophysics. It was discovered to cause mental breaks for office workers in the 1960's. The office cubicle solved that problem by 1968.

    Like knowledge workers in business offices artists must use full mental investment to create their art. If they do that where there is detectable movement in peripheral vision they have Subliminal Distraction exposure and will have the psychiatric symptoms it causes.

    Circumstantial evidence shows low level long term exposure creates fixed altered mental states which resemble schizophrenia.

    Whether or not his art became more bizarre as his mental situation degraded the work contributed to that decline.

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