Laura Prins | VU University Medical Center (original) (raw)

Books / Exhibition Catalogues (Chapters) by Laura Prins

Rethinking Kirchner | Kirchner Neu Denken, 2020

Essay in volume of conference proceeding 'Rethinking Kirchner: Interdisciplinary Approach', Kirch... more Essay in volume of conference proceeding 'Rethinking Kirchner: Interdisciplinary Approach', Kirchner Museum Davos, in collaboration with Art Centre Basel, Switzerland & Universität Konstanz , Germany, published by Hirmer, Munchen (German & English).
Edited by Annick Haldemann, Wolfgang Henze & Martina Nommsen;
Conference organized by Katharina Beisiegel & Thorsten Sadowsky.
ISBN: 978-3-7774-3373-8

erratum:
On p. 82, a reference is made to fig. 6 (p. 84), however a wrong image is included here. In the collection of the Van Gogh Museum there are several works that do match, such as Reminiscence of Brabant. The painting from the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum reproduced here could be placed next to fig. 8 (p. 87), referred to on p. 86.

In the Picture: Portraying the Artist, 2020

A short introduction to the theme The Suffering Artist in the exhibition catalogue In the Picture... more A short introduction to the theme The Suffering Artist in the exhibition catalogue In the Picture, of the Van Gogh Museum (edited by Nienke Bakker en Lisa Smit)

A short essay on the relationship between creativity and mental illness, following from my PhD re... more A short essay on the relationship between creativity and mental illness, following from my PhD research. This essay has no scientific intentions, but it's my first impression of this popular debate.
This was requested by the Foundation Beautiful Distress, after the Art Manifestation in 2017.
https://www.beautifuldistress.org/webstore/beautiful-distress-kunstmanifestatie-over-waanzin

in the exhibition catalogue On the Verge of Insanity: Van Gogh and his illness, with Louis van Ti... more in the exhibition catalogue On the Verge of Insanity: Van Gogh and his illness, with Louis van Tilborgh and Nienke Bakker, with the collaboration of Teio Meedendorp

the opening essay and all the entries in the exhibition catalogue Van Gogh: Into the Undergrowth,... more the opening essay and all the entries in the exhibition catalogue Van Gogh: Into the Undergrowth, with Cornelia Homburg, Simon Kelly and Jenny Reynaerts, ed. by Kristi Nelson

in the exhibition catalogue Liebermann und Van Gogh for Villa Liebermann Berlin

in The New Potato Eaters: Van Gogh in Nuenen, 1883-1885, ed. by Paul Williamson

conference papers by Laura Prins

In the eighteenth century, medical doctors and psychiatrists avant la lettre started to examine g... more In the eighteenth century, medical doctors and psychiatrists avant la lettre started to examine geniuses from the past, because they noticed how many great minds seemed to have suffered mentally and physically. Egodocuments were an important source from which they made pathological interpretations, often quoting selectively and without proper context. At the same time, artists and writers found inspiration in testimonies of geniuses, while they also wrote down their own personal struggles and encounters in diaries and letters – despite awareness of possible pathological interpretations and their own legacy (knowing their personal statements would be published posthumously). In the nineteenth and twentieth century, both medical and personal sources flourished, but in my paper I would like to focus on these first examples in the second half of the eighteenth century, exploring how personal reflections on suffering, related to other geniuses and possible diagnoses, were expressed. I will focus especially on Rousseau and Delacroix.

at the conference Egodocuments and Privacy in the Early Modern Era, organized by University of Lodz, Poland, 19 & 20 October 2023

at the conference Strained Bodies: Physical Tension in Art and Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-Univer... more at the conference Strained Bodies: Physical Tension in Art and Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, in collaboration with Haus der Kunst

At the conference Rethinking Kirchner: An Interdisciplinary Approach, 28 June - 1 July 2018, Davo... more At the conference Rethinking Kirchner: An Interdisciplinary Approach, 28 June - 1 July 2018, Davos, organized by the Kirchner Museum Davos, Art Centre Basel & the University of Constance, Germany.

The lives of Kirchner and Van Gogh show several striking similarities. Both artists became ill and were (more or less) voluntarily institutionalized. During their confinement, they continued to work most of the time. In both their oeuvres, a different artistic approach is visible after the moment they are isolated from the art world. Both are known for their expressive paintings, in which their direct surroundings can be recognized. Both depicted themselves as an ill man and created drawings in an unconscious state. Both their characters are considered to be maladaptive and unpredictable. And both committed suicide. Naturally, these two original artists, shaping the course of modern art, became a fit subject for psychologists and psychiatrists.

Numerous attempts to diagnose Van Gogh have appeared in the twentieth century. This started in Germany, for two reasons. First, Van Gogh was immensely popular there. He featured in numerous exhibitions, was traded extensively and a German translation of his letters was already published in 1914. Second, in Germany the discipline of psychiatry developed first and foremost. An important change was the definition of schizophrenia, a much milder substitute of the then prevailing notion of dementia praecox that literally meant a deterioration of the brain. Schizophrenia’s spectrum was much wider and the illness’ prospect was no longer necessarily devastating. Many sufferers of this illness were in fact considered to be unusually creative and psychiatrists developed an interest in the drawings of their patients (so-called outsider art). The pathologizing of artists and collecting the drawings of patients were symptoms of a wider debate, the believe that there is a relationship between creativity and illness that can be proven scientifically.

Karl Jaspers (1922) was the first physician to analyze posthumously Van Gogh’s illness in depth. According to him the artist suffered most likely from schizophrenia. He was struck by his art after a visit to the 1912 Sonderbund exhibition: “I could not help feeling that van Gogh was the only truly great and unwillingly ‘insane’ person among so many who pretend to be insane but are really all too normal.” Jaspers referred to belief that artists should be mad in order to be brilliant. Artists were well aware of this notion and some of them cleverly exploited this.

Kirchner, represented at the Sonderbund as well, was no stranger to creating his own myth. Like most of the artists of his generation, the work of Van Gogh had a decisive influence. Kirchner was also familiar with his life and illness. In this paper I would like to explore how Kirchner’s perception of his own illness and possible relation to his art was shaped in this context of pathologizing artists, collecting outsider art and beliefs that madness and art are related. Making comparison with Van Gogh, it will become clear how much these artists’ experiences of illness and the relation to their art actually differed. This sheds a critical light on the idea that madness and creativity are related, because each individual case reveals multiple variables contributing to either artistic choices or state of mind.

Vincent van Gogh was troubled by physical and mental discomforts his whole life. He often neglect... more Vincent van Gogh was troubled by physical and mental discomforts his whole life. He often neglected his own health, but he was also continually trying to improve it by consulting doctors and medical books. Late December 1888 Van Gogh turned seriously ill, after which several hospitalizations and a voluntarily institutionalization followed. He found comfort in the idea that everybody could fall victim to ‘the illnesses of our time’, especially artists since they would be more vulnerable. What exactly did Van Gogh mean with the illnesses of his time? What did he and his doctors believe he had? For which ailments was he afraid? This lecture will explore different diseases that were rampant in the 19th century, such as alcoholism, epilepsy and syphilis, in the context of the then widespread belief in degeneration, determinism and heredity.

Introductory lecture to the Van Gogh Museum symposium 'On the Verge of Insanity: Van Gogh and his... more Introductory lecture to the Van Gogh Museum symposium 'On the Verge of Insanity: Van Gogh and his Illness', held on 14 and 15 September 2016 in Amsterdam.

When you decide to immerse yourself in Van Gogh’s diagnostic history, you have to ask not only where it all begins but also – perhaps especially – where it all ends. Countless medical and psychological publications that seek to explain his illness have been published since his death. The posthumous diagnoses began to appear around the 1920s and are still being produced to this day. We have to view each of these attempts in the context of its time and its particular author: each writer had his or her own agenda and – not surprisingly – arrived at different conclusions.

There is one important distinction we should make: Van Gogh’s own physicians wanted to diagnose his condition so that they could help him. The doctors, by contrast, who studied the case after the artist’s death were not concerned about his welfare, but in achieving a better understanding of Van Gogh and/or his art, for example. Or to identify a high-profile sufferer of a particular illness.
There is an obvious and natural tendency for doctors to diagnose Van Gogh from within their own area of expertise, which means they were influenced by the dominant developments in their particular field.

I would like to focus today on two elements within the overall research:
1. Firstly, the original diagnosis and its significance at the time: how did Van Gogh deal with it and did it help him at all? (In other words: a diagnosis as intended.)
2. And secondly, the 1920s, when his ‘posthumous diagnostic history’ began to develop; why was a particular diagnosis proposed and how sustainable did it turn out to be?

This paper explores the question to what extent artists with anarchist sympathies were able to ma... more This paper explores the question to what extent artists with anarchist sympathies were able to maintain their autonomous position in the social context of late-nineteenth-century France that was full of political tension, revolution and even terror. While the anarchists summoned artists to join the revolution, creating a social art, artists wished to maintain their autonomous status instead. In this paper, an album of original prints will be central, published by the anarchist journal Les Temps nouveaux, between 1896 and 1903, to which several artists contributed. The appearance of the album is quite ambiguous. How is this tension visible in execution: between subject and style, goal and intention, propaganda and autonomy?

Talks by Laura Prins

To accompany the major exhibition Van Gogh in Auvers. His Final Months, the Van Gogh Museum organ... more To accompany the major exhibition Van Gogh in Auvers. His Final Months, the Van Gogh Museum organised a Study Day on 5 July 2023, followed by a Symposium on 6 July.

Laura Prins, PhD Researcher & Lecturer at Amsterdam UMC, presented The Concept of Creativity and Mental Health in the 19th Century, from the perspective of medical doctors who wished to understand the unfathomableness of the (genius) human mind, and from the perspective of artists such as Delacroix and Van Gogh, who had to deal with the real pressure of creativity.

Laura Prins speaks to the University of Alberta on the topic of Van Gogh and mental illness. From... more Laura Prins speaks to the University of Alberta on the topic of Van Gogh and mental illness. From what illness was Van Gogh suffering? Did his condition influence his artistic achievements? These questions were central to an exhibition over the summer of 2016 at the Van Gogh Museum. In her talk, Laura Prins discusses how the Van Gogh Museum dealt with this sensitive subject and touches upon the ongoing question: is there a relation between creativity and mental illness? An independent writer and researcher, Prinsspecializes in nineteenth-century art and culture. Recently she worked at the Van Gogh Museum on the exhibition, publication and symposium On the Verge of Insanity: van Gogh and his Illness. Following her MPhil thesis Positioning the Original Print: Politics of Printmaking in France 1870–1900, she continues doing research on the relation between art and anarchism in the nineteenth century, which will result in a special issue of the International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity (2016). Prins's presentation was hosted by the department of Art and Design at University of Alberta, as part of their annual Visual Art and Design Forum speaker series.

Books / Exhibition Catalogues by Laura Prins

Jubileumjaar Panorama Mesdag - 140 jaar bestaan: een publicatie over de totstandkoming van Mesdag... more Jubileumjaar Panorama Mesdag - 140 jaar bestaan:
een publicatie over de totstandkoming van Mesdags Panorama van Scheveningen en focus op zijn helpende handen: Breitner, De Bock, Blommers en Mesdag-van Houten

Naast de inhoudelijke redactie, samen met Suzanne Veldink, schreef ik het hoofdstuk over Théophile de Bock en schreef ik mee aan het hoofdstuk over Sientje Mesdag-van Houten

John and Marine Fentener van Vlissingen have been collecting art for over forty-five years and th... more John and Marine Fentener van Vlissingen have been collecting art for over forty-five years and they are still looking for new additions to their collection. The collection gives a perfect view of the great artists from the impressionism and post impressionism like Manet, Monet, van Gogh and Renoir. Entries written by Laura Prins and Fred Leeman, with a contribution of Teio Meedendorp.

Van Gogh leverde nooit half werk. Gedreven zwoegde hij naar zijn doel, een oeuvre nalatend van ru... more Van Gogh leverde nooit half werk. Gedreven zwoegde hij naar zijn doel, een oeuvre nalatend van ruim 800 schilderijen, 1500 tekeningen en bijna 850 brieven. Zijn verzamelwoede was al even groot: als beginnend kunstenaar vergaarde hij een collectie van meer dan 1500 tijdschriftillustraties en reproducties. Het grafische oeuvre van Van Gogh - slechts negen lithografieën en een ets - lijkt haaks tegenover deze overvloed te staan. Van Gogh begon iets wat hij nooit heeft kunnen afmaken door te hoge ambities en te beperkte financiële middelen.

Articles by Laura Prins

Between 1896 and 1903, Jean Grave, editor of the anarchist journal Les Temps Nouveaux, published ... more Between 1896 and 1903, Jean Grave, editor of the anarchist journal Les Temps Nouveaux, published an artistic album of original prints, with the collaboration of (avant-garde) artists and illustrators. While anarchist theorists, including Grave, summoned artists to create social art, which had to be didactic and accessible to the working classes, artists wished to emphasize their autonomous position instead. Even though Grave requested 'absolutely artistic' prints in the case of this album, artists had difficulties with creating something for him, trying to combine their social engagement with their artistic autonomy. The artistic album appears to have become a compromise of the debate between the anarchist theorists and artists with anarchist sympathies.

Rethinking Kirchner | Kirchner Neu Denken, 2020

In the Picture: Portraying the Artist, 2020

in the exhibition catalogue Liebermann und Van Gogh for Villa Liebermann Berlin

in The New Potato Eaters: Van Gogh in Nuenen, 1883-1885, ed. by Paul Williamson

at the conference Egodocuments and Privacy in the Early Modern Era, organized by University of Lodz, Poland, 19 & 20 October 2023

Naast de inhoudelijke redactie, samen met Suzanne Veldink, schreef ik het hoofdstuk over Théophile de Bock en schreef ik mee aan het hoofdstuk over Sientje Mesdag-van Houten

PRINTS FEATURED PROMINENTLY in late nineteenth-century Paris: on the street, in the newspaper, at... more PRINTS FEATURED PROMINENTLY in late nineteenth-century Paris: on the street, in the newspaper, at the theatre, in the galleries and in collectors’ portfolios. By 1897, according to the art critic André Mellerio, prints contained ‘the same amount of pure art’ as painting and sculpture.1 Key to this development was the fact that artists had taken to printmaking, which had previously been mainly practised by craftsmen earning a living from reproducing works of art or illustrating books and journals. The artists, however, explored the possibilities of print techniques in autonomous compositions. Camille Pissarro noticed in 1897 that ‘at the moment prints are the exclusive interest here, it is a mania, the young artists no longer do anything else’.2 This quotation is an apt introduction to the ‘mania’ for prints at the turn of the century, splendidly exhibited in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (to 11th June).3

In my Mphil thesis "Positioning the ‘Original Print’: Politics of Printmaking in France, 1870-190... more In my Mphil thesis "Positioning the ‘Original Print’: Politics of Printmaking in France, 1870-1900", I analyzed the status of the print in France, with a special interest in the different definitions and functions of the original print. With the contradictions original vs. reproductive, high vs. low, craft vs. industry and autonomy vs. propaganda, I focused amongst others on the context of the decorative arts, the changes in the art market and the official Salon, the development of print techniques and politics in France.