Fascinating and relatable details about historical and contemporary artists’ experiences with mental wellness, and where it and thetendrils of creativity cross paths, run parallel, and diverge.

How does art reflect and affect mental wellness?What’s behind the idea that madness is linked to creativity? Does having an artistic temperament mean that creative people operate in a mental state different from the norm? Andwhy is art often used astherapyfor mental illnesses?

Anyone who enjoys looking at art, or who finds comfort in art making while living in our high-tech, high-stress era, will be intrigued by this look at historical and contemporary artists whose work reflects themental-wellness issues that each one has lived with. Through biographies of individual artists, readers will explore existing research and theories about the relationship between mental health and creativity.

The artists’ lives prompt topics like why substance abuse is found at high rates among artists, how we can learn about the mental health of artists who were diagnosed with now-obsolete terms like “melancholia,” and in cases where a formal diagnosis was lacking, how artists areposthumously diagnosed by modern-day professionals.

The artists discussed reflect a wide range of mental health topics, including anxiety and depression, schizophrenia, bipolar conditions, body dysmorphia, disordered eating, and PTSD, among others.By Kathryn Vercillo, Edited by Angelica Jardini, and Other Sartle, IncSartle.com is an online project devoted to democratizing art history by focusing on the stories that textbooks often ignore.This book was made possible by Sartle, whichmixes serious art history with fun observations and hilarious, strange, and shocking facts about artworks and artists, making art more relatable and fun.www.sartle.com
Kathryn Vercillois a full-time writer with a master’s degree in psychological studies. She is the owner of Create Me Free, a small business that researches the link between art and mental health. She is the author of eight books, includingCrochet Saved My Life, which is about the health benefits of handcrafting. She lives in San Francisco.20 imagesThe Creative Lives and Mental Health of Famous Artists20 images