St Adolf II. Adolf Wölfli 1864-1930. Painter, writer, composer - ACE031.2

Adolf Wölfli’s signature. Photograph of Wölfli. Der Gott Vatter Riisen Blit. Wölfli’s words over, talking about flying over stars in 1868; describes different parts of the painting, and talks about being in a cell. Dr Hugo Rast talks about Wölfli’s aggressive behaviour towards other patients which caused him to be put in his own separate cell. Mental institution. Commentary relates Wölfli’s family background personal experiences, including a prison sentence for child molestation. One of Wölfli’s paintings, hanging in the lecture hall of the Waldau asylum, Bern, where Wölfli was committed. Encouraged to paint by Dr Morgenthaler, he did so – as well as writing and composing – from 1899 until his death. He was the subject of the first study of a schizophrenic artist, published by Morgenthaler in 1920. A cupboard covered in designs by Wölfli, made on paper and glued to the wood. The contents of the cupboard, including Wölfli’s autobiography. Photograph of Wölfli, standing next to the pile of papers. A hand-written and hand-drawn book by Wölfli; quotation from the text read over. Photograph of Wölfli surrounded by his pictures. Prof. Dr. Th. Spoerri, Psychiatrische Universitätspoliklinik, Bern, talks about Wölfli’s schizophrenia being evident in his artistic work. His VO over some of Wölfli’s designs, showing repetition, the use of dream images, the use of symbols, sexual motifs, curving shapes, etc.