Collection de l'Art Brut

Since 1976, Lausanne has been the capital of Art Brut [Outsider Art]. Unique in the world long before similar institutions appeared in Europe and the USA, the Collection de l’Art Brut remains THE “home” and point of reference for outsider art. In fact, its core comes from the “inventor” of Art Brut himself, the French artist Jean Dubuffet, who was the first to recognize the worth of spontaneous and non-mainstream art, which he discovered in asylums and prisons, or being created by outsiders and other one-off individuals.

Diving into distant interiors

Remembering that it was in Switzerland, particularly in the French speaking part of the country, that he had encountered exceptional artists and open-minded psychiatrists since 1945, he chose to offer to Lausanne the 5000 pieces from his collection: Wölfli, Aloïse, Chaissac, Madge Gill, Carlo, Augustin Lesage, etc. They are housed at the Château de Beaulieu, an 18^th century mansion, whose interior is shrouded in black so that visitors can immerse themselves in the “familiar strangeness” of these distant interiors where dissident art roams freely. Michel Thévoz, its first curator and Dubuffet’s heir, immediately gave it an international profile. In 2001, Lucienne Peiry – author of a thesis on the Collection de l’Art Brut – took over. Through her active leadership, she has overseen its involvement in thematic exhibitions and monograph shows, publications and film productions.

The double life of Outsider Art