The Brut et Joli catalog aims to demonstrate that the works comprising the Sainte-Anne Collection do not belong to Art Brut—which is not an artistic category but rather a philosophical concept—since several of the artists are not self-taught, nor do they belong to the category of “art of the insane,” since the works in the collection engage in dialogue with art history, as seen in several other exhibitions at the Centre d’Étude de l’Expression. The catalog includes works by Aloïse Corbaz, Guillaume Pujolle, and Albino Braz, who are now recognized as Art Brut artists, but the study shows that many other creators featured in the exhibition do not fit this definition of artists devoid of any artistic culture. This is the whole point of the book: to show how the “raw” and the “beautiful” can coexist within the Sainte-Anne Hospital.

Nearly 120 works by 30 artists from the collection are presented. Contemporary artists are also invited, as is customary for the museum, in line with its desire to promote artistic exchange on the works in order to open people’s minds to the breaking down of barriers between genres. Works by Annette Messager, Gérard Gasiorowski, and Martial Raysse are therefore reproduced in the catalog.

Centre d’Etude de l’Expression, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de l’Hôpital Sainte-Anne (formerly the Musée Singer-Polignac)