Birth of lust.

  • Charnley, Bryan, 1949-1991
Date:
[1988]
Reference:
3049679i
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Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Credit

Birth of lust. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Online resources

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About this work

Description

A headless figure dressed in green stands on a monster-like head, looking out across a landscape with a river running through it. A snake runs down the length of the body.

Publication/Creation

[1988]

Physical description

1 painting : oil on canvas ; 51.2 x 61.2 cm

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. 1988. Birth of lust. [Oil on canvas]. Wellcome Collection 3049679i

References note

Charnely, J. (2018). Bryan Charnley: art and adversity, pages 132-133.

Notes

Title provided by the Estate of Bryan Charnley.

Ownership note

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

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