DOI Artikel:
Skrabek, Aleksandra: Między ekspresją artystyczną a ekspresją faktu: Jean-Martin Charcot i Aby Warburg wobec ikonografii szaleństwa
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29589#0131
MIĘDZY EKSPRESJĄ ARTYSTYCZNĄ A EKSPRESJĄ FAKTU...
125
BETWEEN ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND FACTUAL EXPRESSION:
JEAN-MARTIN CHARCOT AND ABY WARBURG ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF MADNESS
Abstract
This paper deals with the relationship between art and medicine. It is concemed with the problem of artistic expression, as well
as non-artistic and natural expression, in the context of ąuestions on the genesis of a work of art, the meaning of expression in art, and
the influence of visual images on the development of methods of expression. These issues, in which strictly artistic problems are related
to the psychology of expression and representation, are raised by the Salpetriere HospitaTs medical records on hysteria, gathered over
the years under the supervision of Dr. Charcot, and depicting female patients in expressive poses. Another example used is the work of
one of the most prominent historians of twentieth century art and culture, Aby Warburg, who was fascinated, among other things, by
representations of violent sensations and emotional stirrings, mainly those caused by religious experience. An important aspect of the
text is the comparison between the methods and interests of both researchers of madness. Another is finding out whether the similarity
between the representations of the raving maenads, which for Warburg were a vehicle for expression, and the photographs and drawings
of hysterics executed by the employees of Salpetriere Hospital, leads to the conclusion that these depictions present the same “pathos
formulas” recurring in art, and if the convergence between the photographs of Charcofs patients and the photographs of carvings and
images compared by Warburg in Mnemosyne Atlas may be interpreted as artistic formulas of expression.
The article is also an attempt to examine how the hospital iconography of hysteria has influenced specific artistic works, in which
“medical” expression has undergone a purely artistic transformation.
125
BETWEEN ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND FACTUAL EXPRESSION:
JEAN-MARTIN CHARCOT AND ABY WARBURG ON THE ICONOGRAPHY OF MADNESS
Abstract
This paper deals with the relationship between art and medicine. It is concemed with the problem of artistic expression, as well
as non-artistic and natural expression, in the context of ąuestions on the genesis of a work of art, the meaning of expression in art, and
the influence of visual images on the development of methods of expression. These issues, in which strictly artistic problems are related
to the psychology of expression and representation, are raised by the Salpetriere HospitaTs medical records on hysteria, gathered over
the years under the supervision of Dr. Charcot, and depicting female patients in expressive poses. Another example used is the work of
one of the most prominent historians of twentieth century art and culture, Aby Warburg, who was fascinated, among other things, by
representations of violent sensations and emotional stirrings, mainly those caused by religious experience. An important aspect of the
text is the comparison between the methods and interests of both researchers of madness. Another is finding out whether the similarity
between the representations of the raving maenads, which for Warburg were a vehicle for expression, and the photographs and drawings
of hysterics executed by the employees of Salpetriere Hospital, leads to the conclusion that these depictions present the same “pathos
formulas” recurring in art, and if the convergence between the photographs of Charcofs patients and the photographs of carvings and
images compared by Warburg in Mnemosyne Atlas may be interpreted as artistic formulas of expression.
The article is also an attempt to examine how the hospital iconography of hysteria has influenced specific artistic works, in which
“medical” expression has undergone a purely artistic transformation.