The Insanity of the Artist

Salvador Dalí sublimated his madness without ever falling into it. Antonin Artaud, confronted with the traumas of childhood, oscillated all his life between an overflowing creation and accesses of madness. Niki de Saint Phalle, thanks to artistic expression, cured herself of a deep depression linked to the trauma of incest. Vincent van Gogh, in order to reach the summit of his art, put himself in danger to the point of committing suicide. 

Camille Claudel exhausted herself in her creation and ended up being interned and never creating again. Based on the life and work of a dozen artists of genius, Thierry Delcourt tries to understand these artists’ transition from the summits of creation and the artistic abyss. Why do some people fall into madness while others go through life without a hitch? Why do some sick people find healing through creation? Why do many artists have an obsessive need to create relentlessly?

To these fascinating questions, this book offers striking answers about creation on the brink of the abyss.