Pierre Vuitton (1880, Verdun - 1962, Paris) was a French art brut painter.

Biography

After being severely wounded, both physically and psychologically, in

WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Pierre Vuitton abandoned his previous life as the child of wealthy merchants. After several stays in sanitariums and

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

s, he moved to Paris in 1920. As an enjoyer of

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

and alcohol, he lived as a casual laborer in poverty despite the rare sale of his pictures. His first works were probably during the war years, later he developed "time-excesses" in which he reportedly spent several days painting without eating or sleeping. He made the acquaintance of several artists in the Parisian bohemian scene, including

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a ...

Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

, Picasso,

de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

, and

Picabia Francis Picabia (: born Francis-Marie Martinez de Picabia; 22January 1879 – 30November 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism ...

. Increasingly, however, his deteriorating mental condition spoiled any binding relationship, so he spent most of his later life in mental hospitals or in

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

s. Many works by Vuitton are stylistically likeminded to the images of Louis Soutter, who was also tormented by an inner turmoil. Typical of Vuitton's expressive painting is the use of

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

paper or book pages as the canvas. Vuitton is a classic representative of the art brut or outsider art as defined by Jean Dubuffet.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vuitton, Pierre 1880 births 1962 deaths Outsider artists Art Informel and Tachisme 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists