Nail schizophrene.

  • Charnley, Bryan, 1949-1991
Date:
[1986]
Reference:
3049675i
Part of:
Bondage paintings.
  • Pictures
  • Online

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Contains: 2 images

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Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Credit

Nail schizophrene. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Online resources

  • Related materials at Wellcome Library See the related archive PP/BCH: View resource

About this work

Description

Outline of a head bound tightly in a headscarf and filled with imagery, including naked bodies with wrapped heads being struck by a hammer, burning cigarettes, heads, and a piano engulfed in a wave.

Publication/Creation

[1986]

Physical description

1 painting : oil on canvas ; 65.9 x66.4 cm

Series

Contributors

Biographical note

Bryan Charnley (1949-1991) was a British artist whose work illustrates his experiences of schizophrenia. In 1969 he enrolled on a BA in sculpture at the Central School of Art and Design, but left due to a breakdown. He started painting in 1978, and from the late 1980s he began to get recognition for his work, with Bethlem Royal Hospital purchasing four of his paintings. From 1987 to his death he kept a dream diary as a way of understanding his own mind. In March 1991 he decided to experiment with his medication and embarked on a series of self-portraits, a series which exposed his mental illness. The series was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1995. He took his own life in July 1991.

Reference

Bryan Charnley. 1986. Nail schizophrene. [Oil on canvas]. Wellcome Collection 3049675i

References note

Charnley, J. (2018). Bryan Charnley: art and adversity, pages 113-114.

Exhibitions note

Exhibited in the Reading Room, Wellcome Collection from January 2020 onwards.

Notes

Title from printed label on verso of painting.
Signed BJC in bottom right corner of recto.
Charnley's paintings of bound heads are described by James Charnley as 'the bondage paintings'.

Ownership note

Purchased by Wellcome Collection in 2018 from the Estate of Bryan Charnley.

Type/Technique

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Where to find it

  • Location Access
    On Exhibition
    		 Can't be requested

    Note

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