Collection de l'Art Brut

Collection de l'Art Brut Review

This singular museum focuses on the genre of fringe or "psychopathological" art, dubbed l'art brut (raw art) in the 1940s by French artist Jean Dubuffet. His own collection forms the base of this ensemble of raw material from untrained minds—prisoners, schizophrenics, or the merely obsessed. Strangely enough, the collection is housed in the Château de Beaulieu, a former mansion of Madame de Staël, she of the sophisticated salons. The exhibits range from intricate yarn and textile pieces to a wall full of whimsical seashell masks. One of the most affecting works is a panel of rough carvings made by an asylum patient in solitary confinement; it was shaped with a broken spoon and a chamber-pot handle. You can get here by walking up Avenue Vinet or by taking Bus No. 2 from Place St-Laurent in the direction of Le Désert.