52 • Introduction to Art Therapy
With the arrival of psychoanalysis, those studying the mind began to find ways to unlock
the puzzle of “primary process” (unconscious, illogical) thought (Freud, 1916–1917). They
were thrilled to be able to decode the meanings of images, whether in dreams, reverie, or the
art of the insane. In 1918 Paul Schilder, the psychiatrist who originated the concept of the
“body image” (Schilder, 1950), published a monograph in which he compared art by one of
his patients to the avant-garde work of the time. He suggested that while both seemed “mad”
to the layman, they also made psychodynamic sense.
In 1921, a Swiss psychiatrist named Morgenthaler published a case study of Adolf Wolffli,
a gifted paranoid schizophrenic artist (C). The soil that nurtured expressionism and psycho-
analysis was rich with the excitement of discovering buried treasure. In 1922 a Viennese art
historian and psychiatrist named Hans Prinzhorn published the most extensive study ever
of the art of the mentally ill (trans. 1972), and part of the collection toured the United States
in 1985. The most recent survey of the topic is by art historian James MacGregor (1989).
Interdisciplinary Exchange
Interest in the Psychopathology of Expression has continued into the 21st century. For many
years, psychiatrists, art historians, and art therapists from around the world have met regu-
larly in an interdisciplinary organization. The International Society for Psychopathology of
Expression (SIPE) was founded in Europe in 1959 and is still in existence. It is significant
that because of the development of the profession this book is about, the organization has
changed its name to the International Society for Psychopathology of Expression and Art
Therapy (www.online-art-therapy.com).
The American Society for Psychopathology of Expression (ASPE) was founded by
Irene Jakab (DVD 3.6), a Hungarian psychologist and psychiatrist (A) who translated and
updated her own groundbreaking 1956 book in 1998 (B). One of the founders of SIPE in
Verona, Jakab founded the American branch of the society in 1966. In addition to repre-
senting one of the interest areas leading to the emergence of art therapy, the meetings of the
ASPE facilitated communication among art therapists in the United States, especially before
there was a national association. In addition, the published Proceedings (under Jakab in the
References) provided invaluable written resources for art therapists when literature in the
field was still extremely scarce.
Another forum for interdisciplinary exchange was provided by Mary Perkins, an art
teacher at the Dr. Franklin Perkins School for children with developmental disabilities.
Perkins organized a series of meetings during the 1970s entitled “The Arts in Education
International Seminar Series.” In 1972, the topic was “Order and Discipline in Art as Models
for Effective Human Behavior.” As a participant, I had the pleasure of meeting many inter-
esting people who had done groundbreaking work with youngsters who had disabilities,
emotional as well as physical and cognitive.
One of them was my roommate, a pioneer British art therapist named Diana Halliday
(C) (cf. Dalley, Halliday, Case, & Schaverien, 1987). In her presentation, Halliday quoted her
mentor, Professor Carstairs, whose words are apt for this chapter on history: “Art expres-
sion is as old as Paleolithic man, and as young as psychedelics. It has been the medium for
profound explicit commentaries on the state of the world, on the nature of man, and also for
the relatively formless emotional outpourings of lyricism—or of torment.”
A similarly fruitful interdisciplinary dialogue was facilitated through a series of sym-
posia and publications in the 1980s about Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Art. The meet-
ings were organized by a team that included analyst John Gedo (1983), art therapist Laurie
Wilson (2003), and art historian Mary Gedo (1985, 1987, 1988).