The Insanity of the Artist

Salvador Dalí sublimated his madness without ever falling into it. Antonin
Artaud, confronted with the traumas of childhood, oscillated all his life
between an overflowing creation and accesses of madness. Niki de Saint Phalle,
thanks to artistic expression, cured herself of a deep depression linked to
the trauma of incest. Vincent van Gogh, in order to reach the summit of his
art, put himself in danger to the point of committing suicide. Camille Claudel
exhausted herself in her creation and ended up being interned and never
creating again. Based on the life and work of a dozen artists of genius,
Thierry Delcourt tries to understand these artists’ transition from the
summits of creation and the artistic abyss. Why do some people fall into
madness while others go through life without a hitch? Why do some sick people
find healing through creation? Why do many artists have an obsessive need to
create relentlessly? To these fascinating questions, this book offers striking
answers about creation on the brink of the abyss.