From the Art of Madmen to Works of Art – Volume 4: 1950–1970 Le comble du vide (The Height of Emptiness), 2010
Ed. Edite

From art brut to the pop years: this is the fourth volume in the series From the Art of Madmen to Works of Art* devoted to the Sainte-Anne Collection. It follows on from the general presentation of the collection (vol. 1) and the works from the first half of the 20th century (1900-1939, From Realism to Fantasy, vol. 2; 1939-1950, A Collection from Elsewhere, vol. 3). 1950-1970… the author examines the creative processes that seem to be sometimes inherent to the artist and sometimes foreign to him: madness and the use of artificial paradises are questioned. The height of emptiness reoccupies a vacant place in art history with the works of Fikret Moualla, Maurice Blin, Charles Schley… – as well as those of the “forgotten artists of 1950,” who were sidelined in their time. Presenting the Sainte-Anne Collection in a chronological and documentary manner responds to the need to situate the works that comprise it within a dual history: the history of these artists, of whom sometimes only a few biographical details remain, and the history of art, in which, contrary to popular belief, they have their place.