Resource Tag: ART

The high prevalence of mood disorders in a group of 15 mid-20th century artists of the New York School is documented. 2 committed suicide; 2 died in single-vehicle accidents while driving; & 2 others had fathers who killed themselves. A hypothesis is presented: depression inevitably leads to a turning inward & to a reexamination of […]

Attitudes toward suicide differ between societies, & also change with time. 104 items of ancient art from Greek, Roman & Estrucan societies that show suicide have been examined & catalogued. These icons, the most distinctive of which are discussed in this article, confirm the view suggested by literary sources that in the Graeco-Roman world self-killing […]

This presentation notes that creativity is described as object related, a message or communication to another & that the form of the creation, its medium, color, content & effectiveness, are descriptive of the nuances of the artist’s relatedness. This presentation is an overview of a paper on Jackson Pollack’s struggle with aesthetic communication, his notorious […]

This paper is a parallel study of graphic features in contemporary suicide notes and primitive art and craft. The article concludes by claiming that in our materialistic world, there is still a fundamental need for dreams. The author argues that we have to recapture the sense of wonder. This is the lesson that we can […]

The relationship between suicide & creativity has long been a subject of considerable concern. The author presents evidence indicating that in fact depression, suicide & creativity are related. Several hypotheses for the relationship are posited. It is suggested that the same changes in the serotonergic system that are associated with depression in general & with […]

Gates claims that Victorians seemed to have deeply feared suicide & tried to conceal it. Suicide law was significantly revised in 1823 & remained illegal in England until 1961. Folklore about suicide flourished alongside legal verdicts & medical knowledge. Open discussion of suicide was unusual except in the case of “the poor, the ill-famed, or […]

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Brief biographies are provided of the following artists who committed suicide: Bassano, Bluemner, Borromini, Bruce, Cagamas, Dayes, DeStael, Elwes, Flanagan, Fuchs, Gerstl, Gillray, Gorky, Gros, Haydon, Kirchner, Kruyder, Kurzweil, Lawson, Lehnbruck, Le Moyne, Maurer, Mayer, Parmigianino, Pascin, Paulsen, Ricci, Rosso, Rothko, Sauce, Seymor, Tassaert, Testa, Tilson, Tinelli, Torrigiano, van Gogh, van Laer, Wiedewilt, deWitte & […]

The authors intend to correct the belief that Van Gogh’s medical problems resulted from epilepsy & madness by reviewing 796 of his personal letters to family & friends, written between 1884 & his suicide in 1890. They argue that the clinical descriptions in Van Gogh’s letters are those of a person suffering from Meniere’s disease, […]

This article describes the life & suicide of artist, Mark Rothko. Rothko was chronically depressed throughout his life, & antidepressants did not serve to alleviate his depression. He was insecure about his artwork, a hypochondriac, had alienated many of his friends & family, & was an alcoholic. The author draws a parallel between Rothko & […]

This biography of Vincent Van Gogh describes his unhappy childhood, & unsuccessful (in his life-time) career & relationships, & fits of anger. The author finds that Van Gogh may have been psychotic, & had a personality disorder. The author also asserts that Van Gogh’s suicide may fit Freud’s view that suicide is anger against someone […]

This letter to the editor is concerned with the suicidal characteristics shown in psychiatric art. This author works for the Australian Collection of Psychiatric Art at the University of Melboune, where a series of paintings is displayed by 23 invidividuals who died by suicide. The author is waiting for funds to investigate presuicidal signs in […]

This study assesses the effect of 4 nationally televised programs on the teenage suicide rate. Controlling for other variables, including holiday & temporal effects, it finds that the films did not increase teenage suicide. Further analysis which controlled for television news stories on suicide, corrected for television specials on teenage suicide, & restricted the analysis […]

This bibliography was created for an American Association of Suicide Conference & contains 33 sources, most of which deals with creativity & suicide. Many of the books are concerned with art therapy. Other topics are bereavement, postvention, & group psychotherapy. (VM)

Slaby discusses a film called “To Paint the Stars: The Life & Death of Vincent Van Gogh.” The filmaker, Kay Jamison, asserts that Van Gogh may have suffered from manic depressive illness. She points out that productivity is increased during periods of manic energy. He may have also suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy. Another theory […]

This article provides a biography of artist, Arshile Gorky. Gorky grew up in Armenia, during the Turkish war on Armenia, & emigrated to the U.S. at age 16. In the last few years of his life, he suffered through cancer, the destruction of his art by fire, a car crash which left him with a […]

This article provides a biography of artist, Dora Carrington (1893-1932). She had difficult childhood, but enjoyed her college years. Dora’s first lover was Lytton Strachey. She later married Ralph Partridge. Dora, Ralph, & Lytton all lived together. All 3 had many affairs, & Dora had her first lesbian affair in 1923. She drank heavily, & […]

This article provides a biography of artist, Mark Gertler (1890-1939). Mark experienced depressions & migraine headaches for most of his life. He was poor for most of his childhood, but had success with his painting early in his career. However, he did experience periodic money troubles. His finances became more secure in time, & in […]

The author asserts that the suicide of Rene Magritte’s mother: (1) had a profound impact on the form & style of his paintings; (2) his paintings represented an effort to master the trauma of the experiences; (3) the contents of certain paintings reconstruct the experience, & (4) some paintings reveal a breakthrough of projected primitive […]

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in the drawings of depressed & non-depressed patients in a VA Hospital in Arizona who were high & low scorers on the BDI. A discrimant function analysis of variables did not discriminate between the drawings of either group above a chance level; however, there was […]

This chapter describes how drawings can be used with the child abuse victim both to obtain more information about what happened to the child sexually & to respond to the child’s need to escape from the traumatic situation into fantasy & play. The discussion is based on 19 consecutive interviews with girls who were suspected […]