Читать книгу Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists - Part 4 - Группа авторов - Страница 37

Many artists were involved in the First World War. Some of them were mobilized, like millions of soldiers, others enlisted to fight on the battlefield. The stories of writers who returned neurologically wounded from the war, such as Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) or Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961), are well-known. The cases of painters and sculptors who suffered from First World War neurological wounds are scarce. Nevertheless, their injuries led to intense modifications of artistic practice. We detail four examples of artists whose creative mind was impacted by their First World War neurological wounds or diseases. The painter Jean-Julien Lemordant (1878–1968), who suffered from blindness after his injury, stopped his artistic work and became an icon of Franco-American friendship. The sculptor Maurice Prost (1894–1967), suffering from a neuroma due to the loss of his arm, built a special device to continue his work as a wildlife artist. The painter Georges Braque (1882–1963) was trepanned but carried on with his cubist work without ever mentioning the conflict. Conversely, the painter Fernand Léger (1881–1955), who suffered from a war neurosis, produced a significant war testimony through drawings and letters.

© 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel

The First World War mobilized millions of soldiers from all social classes and occupations. Artists did not escape this mobilization. Some of them even enlisted to fight on the battlefield. The French Minister of Fine Arts, Albert Dalimier (1875–1936), stated during the conflict that the artist should be as pugnacious in battle as he is facing his work. Writers who returned wounded from the war were numerous and some of their stories are well known, such those by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) or Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961) [Tatu and Bogousslavsky, 2016].

Historiography also lists a number of cases of painters and sculptors who suffered from a severe First World War injury. Among them, neurological wounds were scarce but led to intense modifications of artistic practice, even when the wound did not affect the “tekhnè,” i.e., the pragmatic knowledge, shared by artists and craftsmen, which allows the completion of a work [Maingon, in press].

In this chapter, we detail four examples of artists whose creative mind was deeply modified by their neurological war wounds or diseases. The painter Jean-Julien Lemordant (1878–1968), a blind war veteran, stopped his artistic work and became an icon of Franco-American friendship. The sculptor Maurice Prost (1894–1967), despite a neuroma due to the loss of his arm, showed his resiliency by building a special device to continue his work as a wildlife artist. The painter Georges Braque (1882–1963), who was trepanned after his war wound, carried on with his cubist work without ever mentioning the conflict. Conversely, the painter Fernand Léger (1881–1955), who suffered from a war neurosis, has left us a significant war testimony through drawings and letters.