The Connection Between Mental Illness and Creativity

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By: Caroline Keenan

Rocks at Belle-Île, Port-Domois, Claude Monet (French, b.1840, d.1926), 1886, From the collection of: Cincinnati Art Museum
The connection between creativity and mental illnesses has been a source of interest towards researchers for years. Mental illnesses have a large impact on the sufferer's creativity and how they express themselves. Many household names in the art world have dealt with mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, mania, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. These illnesses and their impacts are visible in some of the world's most famous paintings, literature, etc.
Self-Portrait, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, From the collection of: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Probably the most popular example of the "mad artist" stereotype was none other than famously talented painter Vincent van Gogh. "I put my heart and my soul into my work, and lost my mind in the process," he once said.
The Bedroom, Vincent van Gogh, October 1888, From the collection of: Van Gogh Museum
Van Gogh was said to have suffered from depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. In a fit of madness, he infamously cut off a piece of his own ear. He was belittled and ridiculed in his lifetime.
The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, From the collection of: MoMA The Museum of Modern Art
Van Gogh's posthumously famous painting, Starry Night was created when he was incapacitated for his mental health. Starry Night is said to depict the view from his window in the asylum he was in.
Self-Portrait “à la Marat”, Edvard Munch, 1908/1909, From the collection of: The Munch Museum, Oslo
Edvard Munch is another famous artist that was plagued with mental illness, including anxiety and hallucinations. Munch is the creator of the very famous painting, The Scream.
The Scream, Edvard Munch, 1910, From the collection of: The Munch Museum, Oslo
Munch's inspiration for the painting came from an evening walk when the sky began to turn blood red and he was trembling with anxiety as he felt an "infinite scream" through nature.
Self-Portrait in Hell, Edvard Munch, 1903, From the collection of: The Munch Museum, Oslo
Munch's painting, titled Self-Portrait in Hell, is made to show his feelings on his life at the time as a man and an artist: a private hell.
Anxiety, Edvard Munch, 1894, From the collection of: The Munch Museum, Oslo
Another painting of Munch's that display his inner struggles with mental illness is his 1894 painting, Anxiety. Pictured in the same place as The Scream, the figures look ghastly and watchful.
Death in the Sickroom, Edvard Munch, 1893, From the collection of: The Munch Museum, Oslo
At one point, Munch wrote in his diary, "My fear of life is necessary to me, as is my illness. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy my art."
Separation, Edvard Munch, 1896, From the collection of: The Munch Museum, Oslo
Sorrow is expressed in Separation. The woman seems to be leaving the man, as he is dressed in dark colors and, with a bloody, cluthing his heart. The flower below him appears to be his bloody heart.
Villas at Bordighera, Claude Monet, 1884, From the collection of: Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Claude Monet, founder of the French Impressionist movement, was another popular and talented artist of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pool, Giverny, Claude Monet, French, 1840 - 1926, 1899, From the collection of: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Although no records show Monet suffered from any mental illnesses, he did however attempt suicide at one point to escape heavy financial troubles he was under when his career as an artist was failing.
Springtime, Claude Monet, 1872, From the collection of: The Walters Art Museum
Despite not suffering from any mental illnesses, some of Monet's most famous works of art were created in a period of mourning following the death of his wife and muse, Camille, pictured here.
Cliff Walk at Pourville, Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926), 1882, From the collection of: The Art Institute of Chicago
Cliff Walk at Pourville, completed in 1882, is a famous Monet piece, made three years after Camille's death in 1879.
Flower Beds at Vétheuil, Claude Monet, 1881, From the collection of: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Pictured here is another piece by Monet created in 1881, two years after Camille's passing.
Water Lilies, Claude Monet, 1915 - 1926, From the collection of: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
If not Monet's most popular piece, Water Lilies was started in 1915, following the death of his second wife Alice in 1911.
Water Lilies, Claude Monet, 1916, From the collection of: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
Another piece in Monet's Water Lilies collection, completed in 1916.
Starry Night, Edvard Munch, 1922/1924, From the collection of: The Munch Museum, Oslo
Unrelated to the following paintings, other famous creators that were not visual artists but writers, poets, actors, etc. will be mentioned.
Poppy field, Vincent van Gogh, June 1890, From the collection of: Kunstmuseum
Writer Sylvia Plath suffered from depression and took her own life in 1963 at age thirty. She infamously stuck her head in the oven and died of carbon monoxide poisoning while her two children slept upstairs.
Shadows on the Sea. The Cliffs at Pourville, Claude Monet, 1882, From the collection of: Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
Virginia Woolf was a famed writer that suffered from depression, bipolar disorder, and other mood disorders. She drowned herself when she felt a depressive episode coming on.
Green Field, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, From the collection of: National Gallery Prague
Famed Wizard of Oz actress Judy Garland suffered from bipolar disorder, as well as Ludwig van Beethoven, Isaac Newton, Ernest Hemingway, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Schumann and Winston Churchill.
Wind Effect, Series of The Poplars, Claude Monet, 1891, From the collection of: Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Research has found a higher prevalence of mental illness in individuals pursuing a creative career, such as writers, artists, musicians, composers, and those involved with theater.
A Corner of the Apartment, Claude Monet, 1875, From the collection of: Musée d’Orsay, Paris
A study conducted by the Karolinska Institute found writers have a higher risk of suffering from anxiety, schizophrenia and substance abuse. They concluded that writers were 121% more likely to be bipolar, as well as 50% more likely to commit suicide.
Wisteria, Claude Monet, circa 1925, From the collection of: Kunstmuseum
To conclude, mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc. have had a clear influence on some of the world's most famous artists and their work of the last two hundred years.
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