Hanz Prinzhorn - Artistry of the Mentally Ill

Prinzhorn worked in a mental institution where people mainly with schizophrenia "lived", and collected little works of art they produced which snowballed into a collection he published in this book. He was interested in how the work they created showed another side to art and gave the world a different outlook on how the work created by mentally ill patients can be something more than a curiosity. 

"Before Prinzhorn, pictures by the mentally ill were more or less considered mere curiosities. They were seldom studied scientifically and were never subjected to a thorough and suitable analysis. The pictures by patients who suffered from dementia praecox (premature senility, an earlier description of schizophrenia) impressed observers as astonishing and basically inexplicable effusions from the realm of the psychic dead. To Prinzhorn, who in the Beideiberg clinic had adopted the theory of schizophrenia of the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler, they were eruptions of a universal human creative urge which counteracts the disease's autistic tendencies toward isolation." 

(pg.6, Springer-Verlag New York Inc., 1972, New York)

"It must be understood that the Heidelberg collection with which the author worked consisted of productions by untrained and unpracticed persons, for the most part, who lacked artistic indoctrination. These persons were often long term residents of mental hospitals, confused and frightened people who lived in uninspirational, isolated and isolating institutions. Between the years 1890 and 1920 when these works were made, there was no formal occupational therapy provided for hospitalised mental patients. The patients who made these images were driven to do so by strong inner needs, often in the face of frustrating circumstances. Paper for drawing was rescued from waste baskets. Same drawings were made on the insides of unfolded envelopes or on toilet paper. Prinzhorn remarks about the small sculptures made from bread in evidence at the institutions he visited. The works of the patients were not included in any therapeutically conceived program, certainly no art therapy as we understand it today. One must remember that the works discussed and illustrated in this book are spontaneous in the fullest sense of the word."

(pg. 13, Springer-Verlag New York Inc., 1972, New York)

• Again, not to do with dementia but schizophrenia and contains a lot of interesting case studies about people with mental illnesses who took to art as an outlet, even when it was not given to them as a therapy option. They naturally gravitated towards it either as a pastime or a way of expressing themselves in times of frustration. Could I maybe somehow bring this in as a way of backing up the importance of creative therapies? 
• Could also give me some images to reference!