Adolf Wölfli: bread art from the Waldau

Adolf Wölfli suffered from schizophrenia throughout his life — yet the psychiatrist Walter Morgenthaler took him seriously as an artist and encouraged his talent. In 1921 Morgenthaler published the book «Ein Geisteskranker als Künstler» (A Mental Patient as Artist). Wölfli became the most prominent representative of Art Brut. During his stay at the Waldau psychiatric hospital, from 1895 until his death, he produced around 1,460 drawings, 1,560 collages and 25,000 pages in self-bound books containing stories, poems and musical compositions.

A universe of his own

With simple materials — coloured pencils and graphite on thin scrap paper — Wölfli wove prose, poetry, illustration and music into a personal utopia. He depicted impressions of Schangnau, Bern, the Waldau and the Emmental: the only places he knew. His pictorial universe disregarded the boundaries between genres and anticipated strategies that avant-garde artists only discovered for themselves after the Second World War.

From 1916, in response to strong demand, Wölfli regularly produced individual drawings and collages — so-called «Brotkunst» (bread art), which he exchanged for necessities and art materials. Of the more than a thousand sheets, around 760 survive today.

Two works by Wölfli were offered at the Autumn Auction 2024.