# Prinzhorn Collection

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The **Prinzhorn Collection** is a German collection of art made by mental health patients, housed at the [Heidelberg University Hospital](/source/Heidelberg_University_Hospital).[1] The collection comprises over 20,000 works, including works by [Emma Hauck](/source/Emma_Hauck), [Agnes Richter](/source/Agnes_Richter) and [August Natterer](/source/August_Natterer).[1][2][3]

## History

The collection was founded by the psychiatrist Karl Wilmanns and his assistant, doctor [Hans Prinzhorn](/source/Hans_Prinzhorn), in the early 1920s.[1][4] Between 1919 and 1921, the pair visited mental hospitals across Germany, initially collecting over 5000 works.[4][5][2] As of 2016, the collection held over 20,000 works.[5] Prinzhorn, a physician and art historian, was engaged by the hospital in 1919 specifically to improve and expand the collection.[6]

Works from the collection were included in [Entartete Kunst](/source/Entartete_Kunst), the famous 1937 Nazi exhibition of 'degenerate' art.[6] Following the war, the collection, largely neglected, was stored in the attic of the hospital.[6] In 1973, a conservation effort was undertaken that led to the restoration and cataloguing of the collection.[6]

The collection was influential on the practice of the artist [Jean Dubuffet](/source/Jean_Dubuffet), who visited it in 1950.[7] Writing to [Henri Matisse](/source/Henri_Matisse), Dubuffet described it as "something I have dreamt of for years."[8]

In 2001, the collection was opened to the public at the **Sammlung Prinzhorn Museum**.[9]

## References

1. Hauschild, Jana (November 28, 2013). ["Psychiatric Breakthrough: When Illness Inspires Great Art"](https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/masterpieces-from-the-prinzhorn-collection-by-psychiatric-patients-a-936148.html). *Der Spiegel*. – via Spiegel Online.

1. Röske, T. (September 26, 2014). "Agnes Richter's jacket". *Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences*. **23** (3): 227–229. [doi:10.1017/S2045796014000298](https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796014000298). [PMC 6998268](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6998268). [PMID 24923836](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24923836)

1. Foster, Hal (December 27, 2004). [*Prosthetic Gods*](https://books.google.com/books?id=wuU_VJ9WYHwC&q=Emma+Hauck+prinzhorn&pg=PA215). MIT Press. ISBN 9780262062428. – via Google Books.

1. ["Prinzhorn Collection of Art by Mental Patients"](https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/prinzhorn-collection-mental-patients-292659). *artnet News*. April 29, 2015.

1. ["A window on the mind: Heidelberg hospital displays art of the mentally ill"](https://www.stripes.com/travel/a-window-on-the-mind-heidelberg-hospital-displays-art-of-the-mentally-ill-1.398076). *Stars and Stripes*

1. Arlt, Herbert & Daviau, Donald G. (May 2, 2009). [*LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS – Volume I*](https://books.google.com/books?id=hxCeDAAAQBAJ&q=%22prinzhorn+collection%22&pg=PA86). EOLSS Publications. ISBN 9781848261228. – via Google Books.

1. ["Sammlung Prinzhorn -Dubuffet's list"](https://prinzhorn.ukl-hd.de/index.php?id=152&L=1). *prinzhorn.ukl-hd.de*

1. Zadeh, Chris Bethel, Joe (February 28, 2019). ["A Journey Into the Radical Art of Brain Injury Survivors"](https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-journey-into-the-radical-art-of-brain-injury-survivors/)

1. Jones, Karen; Koh, Eugen; Veis, Nurin; White, Anthony; Hurworth, Rosalind; Bell, Johanna; Shrimpton, Brad; Fitzpatrick, Anthony (November 26, 2010). [*Framing Marginalised Art*](https://books.google.com/books?id=6LV4wrjwdzkC&q=Sammlung+Prinzhorn+collection&pg=RA1-PA69). UoM Custom Book Centre. ISBN 9781921775215. – via Google Books.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Prinzhorn Collection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prinzhorn_Collection) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prinzhorn_Collection?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.