Why are artists tortured souls? Why are a lot of artists depressed? Is there a direct correlation between creativity and mental illness? In other words, do artists who struggle with mental health issues create better art? Well, there are lots of questions resulting from the idea of the “tortured artist.” In this post, we’ll delve into the psychology of art and try to find out whether the tortured artist notion is real or a myth!
First of all—just to make sure we are on the same page—what exactly is a tortured artist?
Because in this post, we are going to talk about why artists are tortured souls. So let’s make sure to get the terminology right from the get-go:
“A tortured artist is a stock character and stereotype who is in constant torment due to frustrations with art, other people, or the world in general. The trope is often associated with mental illness.”
That’s the definition Wikipedia offers.
In fact, Wikipedia makes it pretty clear from the beginning: the “tortured artist” is not much more than a trope. Nevertheless, the notion that artists need to suffer in order to make great art still seems to be deeply engrained in our thinking.
Creating art out of pain might sound familiar to you, too. Our negative experiences and emotions are oftentimes those who touch us the deepest. Naturally, we process them in our artwork.
Your pain has a purpose, and it helps you learn and grow. If you can make meaningful art out of it—even better!
But do pain and suffering necessarily make your art more complex and interesting and yourself a better artist?
In other words, do you need to be a tortured artist in order to create great art?
Let’s delve in!
Who is the most tortured artist?
The above quote is by Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter and engraver (1863–1944), who actually lived by those words. Munch is remembered for his Frieze of Life painting sequence, incorporating The Scream (1893). During his entire life, Munch struggled with depression and suffered a severe mental breakdown in 1908.
Another example of a famous “tortured artist” is Vincent van Gogh (1853–90). The Dutch painter only sold one painting during his lifetime. Van Gogh is known for suffering from manic depression, cutting off part of his own ear and eventually committing suicide.
I could also mention Frida Kalho, Goergia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Michelangelo, and Paul Gauguin, who are all likely to have suffered mental health issues.
But is there a reason why artists struggle with mental health, presumably more than non-creative people?
Related: 7 Negative Things About Being An Artist (The Cons You’ll Need To Master!)
Why do artists struggle with mental health?
Creativity and mental health issues have often been linked. In fact, certain mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizotypy, have been found to occur more often in creative people. That’s why artists often appear to be weird… (◔_◔)
But do those mental health struggles help artists create better art?
Well, not factually, but a study conducted at the University of Southampton revealed that people tend to view an artwork as superior when being told that the artist has mental problems.
While it is true that multiple studies concluded that mental illness is more prevalent in creatives, it is important to mention that those studies have been criticized for being inconsistent and unrepresentative.
On the other hand, there is large, representative Swedish study that analyzed the connection between creativity and mental health disorders over a period of 40 years. The results show that artistic people are not more likely to suffer from psychiatric disorders than the rest of the population. Only bipolar disorder was found to have a small effect of 8%.
That being said, we can conclude that mental health struggles are not a prerequisite for being a good artist!
Art myth debunked:
Why artists are so often seen as tortured souls
Throughout history, there have certainly been artists who experienced extreme psychological pain and channeled it into their artwork.
However, it is important to realize that artists don’t have to be tortured souls in order to make great art—or to make art at all.
That’s simply a misconception. Although a very persistent one.
The notion of the “tortured artist” actually goes back a very long time.
Already the ancient Greeks believed that madness was a state of otherworldliness induced by either divine or demonic forces. The demonic madness was associated with what we today would call mental illness.
But the divine madness, on the other hand, was understood as a state of intensive creativity and bliss that can be best compared to the flow state in art.
According to Greek philosopher Plato,
“All of the good poets are not in their right mind when they make their beautiful songs.”
This is how the Greeks viewed “divine madness.” However, things have changed over time and nowadays, we wouldn’t refer to “being in the zone” as madness.
Ultimately, the idea of the tortured artist is a damaging stereotype that romanticizes mental illness in a way that hinders artists far more than it helps them. Being one of the common myths about artists, it rather discourages genuine artistry than it motivates people to start being creative.
The truth is that we are all born creative and that some of the best coping strategies for mental illness involve art therapy. Because both actively creating art and passively enjoying the art of others have been shown to have benefits on our mental health.
At the end of the day, art should be a joyful act of creation, not some misguided attempt to wallow in torment. That's why artists don't need to be tortured souls to make meaningful art. It's about time to let go of that old myth and become a happy artist! ☺︎
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What’s your reason to create art? Do you use your pain and suffering as a catalyst for art-making? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you! Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new blog posts and other cool stuff. ♥
Utterly well written articles. Really enjoyed looking through.
Hi Jessie, happy to hear that you like my art blog ♥︎
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by and leaving that comment, Regina! I have a couple more similar articles that might be interesting for you:
You realize a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a new spin on a subject that’s been written about for years. Wonderful stuff, just great!
Hi Melanie, thanks for stopping by and dropping a comment! Happy that you liked the post (: