This article examines the 1943 surrealistic painting Schizophrenia by Ivor Francis, the first major Australian art work depicting a mental disorder. Francis was influenced by Max Harris who encouraged him to read works on surrealism and psychoanalysis, but took his ideas from the book on schizophrenia by the radical Melbourne psychiatrist, Reg Ellery.
Conclusion:
Ivor Francis produced a riveting painting that stands as an enduring visual beacon in the cultural history of Antipodean psychiatry.
SchildkrautJJ. Review of: Beyond Reason: Art and Psychosis: Works From the Prinzhorn Collection. Am J Psychiatry2000; 157: 2068-a-2070.
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WachK. Ivor Francis’s Schizophrenia of 1943: Australia’s First Psychological Painting. Papers of Surrealism2007; 6: 1–28.
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Exhibition of Paintings: Ivor Francis, Douglas Roberts, Royal South Australian Society of Artists’ Gallery, Adelaide, South Australia, 1945, catalogue number 11.
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FrancisI. Schizophrenia, Artist’s Registration Statement, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, 1945. The Registration Statement is also reproduced with an illustration of the painting in The Bulletin of the National Gallery of South Australia, Vol. 7, No. 2, October 1945. Listed in Wach K. Ivor Francis’s Schizophrenia of 1943: Australia’s First Psychological Painting. Papers of Surrealism2007; 6: 1–28.
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Transcript of interview of Ivor Francis by Ken Wach. 25January1990.
