Charpentier

PJH56213 — American Folk Art Company / Dietz Press Richmond 1982. Ownership Signature of Roger Cardinal Near Fine in publishers slightly rubbed decorated wrappers . Illustrated throughout.1st edition. Roger Cardinal was one of Britains most distinguished art historians best known for defining what is generally known as Outsider Art - that is art by people with no formal training. He began his career as a lecturer at the French department of the University of Manitoba Canada subsequently moving to Warwick University and finally to the University of Kent at Canterbury where he taught for fifty years and held a professorship. Roger Cardinal was not only a leading authority on Outsider Art but also on Surrealism. He was a prolific writer and a master of literary style. His eloquent percipient writings include several books on a wide range of subjects such as Outsider Art 1972 German Romantics in Context 1975 Figures of Reality 1981 Expressionism 1984 The Landscape Vision of Paul Nash 1989 The Cultures of Collecting 1994 and Kurt Schwitters 2011. He also acted as a curator and was a regular contributor to art-historical publications. CardinalÕs interest in art lay in its margins - the neurodiverse psychotic uneducated autistic self-taught and ÔotherÕ. His fascination with artists such as the violently psychotic Adolf Wšlfli lay in their creativity rather than in the sensationalism of their lives. Certainly it did not lie in the resale value of their work. That outsider art should have its own multimillion-dollar annual fair in New York and specialist departments at ChristieÕs auctioneers ran quite contrary to CardinalÕs thinking. American Folk Art Company / Dietz Press (Richmond) 1982 unknown