Adolf Wolfli: Draftsman, Writer, Poet, Composer (Cornell Studies in the History of Psychiatry)

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary Intensity
Review: Although not the definitive volume on Adolf Wolfli, this is the most comprehensive and satisfying compilation of his work to date, including 186 illustrations and a collection of essays. As the title suggests, the book gives a well rounded view of his accomplishments as a draftsman, composer, writer, and poet. Wolfli, who is considered to be an artistic genius, is examined in the context of art history and as a psychological phenomenon.

The artist spent most of his life in Switzerland's Waldeau Asylum. The mystery surrounding his work is that he did not begin producing art until 4 years after being committed. Although he had no formal training as an artist and no previous interest in drawing, he spent his 35 years at Waldeau producing a prolific (almost unbelievable) amount of work. He created more than twenty five thousand pages of drawings, prose, and musical scores depicting imaginary travels, poetry, landscapes, intricate maps, philosophies, personal mythologies, scientific theories, complex mathematical systems, and cosmic battles. Wolfli worked in pencil on simple newsprint paper and then meticulously bound the pages into books. The quality of the work is impressive considering the inferior materials available in a hospital environment. He also seems to have predicted many of the ideas that have become popular in contemporary art, immortalizing Campbell's soup advertisement thirty years before Andy Warhol's infamous silk screen.

The work itself is rich with ornament and symbolism. It is as beautiful as it is compulsive and strange. The consistent theme in his paintings appears to be an autobiographical account with alternating realities. His crimes and other actual events are depicted along with a fantastic and exaggerated version of himself as the hero of an epic adventure. The essays speculate on the meaning of his illness in relationship to his art and seem to raise more questions than they answer. It is fascinating to read, and through these reproductions and insights, we are assured that understanding is not a requirement for appreciating Wolfli as an artist.

Rating:
Summary: An art book in black and white...
Review: It's a shame that one of the few recent books on Adolf Wolfli is primarily made up of black and white reproductions of his art work. How is the viewer supposed to fully appreciate the qualities of the art when the color is missing? A more recent book on Wolfli, The Art of Adolf Wolfli : St. Adolf-Giant-Creation, is a much better attempt at covering Wolfli's artistic output. While not perfect, most of the reproductions are in color and at this date and time, offer the best access to Wolfli's art in color.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating and colorful
Review: This is one of the most comprehensive books I have seen on artist Adolf Wolfli. I find the one star review claiming that the book lacks color reproductions to be misleading and perplexing. This book is beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated with 75 full color full page plates. There is certainly plenty of color in this book and in fact the full page color reproductions are impressive and of excellent quality. Certainly with 75 full page full color plates the book is generous in it's color illustrations. In addition to the rich full color representation of Adolf Wolfli's work is an extensive text that is heavily illustrated in black and white.

The black and white section of the book makes perfect sense and does not detract from the value of the full color sections. The text includes a full detailed history of the artist's life and creative process. It is perfectly understandable and in fact required for a full understanding of Wolfli's work. The book goes into additional detail about Wolfli's musical compositions and other writings. We must remember that he was also a draftsman, writer, poet, and composer. The inclusion of this material results in a well rounded look at a fascinating and diverse individual. It is written coherently and is evenly paced. I could hardly find fault with the helpful addition of many black and white illustrations to accompany the lengthy text. That would be a case of seeing a full glass half empty.

If one is interested exclusively in pictures of Wolfli's work and a thin exploitation of his outsider status, then by all means skip this book. Here the authors attempt to delve deeper and approach the phenomenon known as Wolfli from every angle, presenting a full chronology of his work in the context of art history as well as the personal experience of the artist. I found the elaborations on his number system and the descriptions of his self defined cosmic experiences to be absolutely fascinating. I would recommend this fine work to anyonewho is sincerely interested in Adolf Wolfli.