Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists Part 2

Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists Part 2

Frontiers of Neurology and Neuroscience Vol. 22 Series Editor J. Bogousslavsky, Montreux

Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists Part 2 Volume Editors J. Bogousslavsky, Montreux M.G. Hennerici, Mannheim 60 figures, 23 in color, and 6 tables, 2007 Basel Freiburg Paris London New York Bangalore Bangkok Singapore Tokyo Sydney

Julien Bogousslavsky, MD Michael G. Hennerici, MD, PhD Department of Neurology Department of Neurology Valmont Clinic University of Heidelberg Genolier Swiss Medical Universitätsklinikum Mannheim Network Theodor Kutzer Ufer 1-3 CH 1823 Glion-sur-Montreux DE 68135 Mannheim (Germany) (Switzerland) (As requested by the Library of Congress, CIP data for Part 1 (vol. 19) are printed). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Neurological disorders in famous artists / volume editors, J. Bogousslavsky, F. Boller. p. ; cm. (Frontiers of neurology and neuroscience ; v. 19) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 3-8055-7914-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Nervous system Diseases. 2. Artists Diseases [DNLM: 1. Famous Persons Case Reports. 2. Nervous System Diseases Case Reports.] I. Bogousslavsky, Julien. II. Boller, François. III. Series. RC359.N46 2005 616.8 dc22 2005002444 Bibliographic Indices. This publication is listed in bibliographic services, including Current Contents and Index Medicus. Disclaimer. The statements, options and data contained in this publication are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s). The appearance of advertisements in the book is not a warranty, endorsement, or approval of the products or services advertised or of their effectiveness, quality or safety. The publisher and the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content or advertisements. Drug Dosage. The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in government regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any change in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Copyright 2007 by S. Karger AG, P.O. Box, CH 4009 Basel (Switzerland) www.karger.com Printed in Switzerland on acid-free paper by Reinhardt Druck, Basel ISSN 1660 4431 ISBN 978 3 8055 8265 0

Contents VII Preface 1 Painting after Right-Hemisphere Stroke Case Studies of Professional Artists Bäzner, H.; Hennerici, M.G. (Mannheim) 14 I and Me: Self-Portraiture in Brain Damage Blanke, O. (Lausanne/Geneva) 30 Lovis Corinth: Integrating Hemineglect and Spatial Distortions Bäzner, H.; Hennerici, M.G. (Mannheim) 44 Visconti and Fellini: From Left Social Neorealism to Right-Hemisphere Stroke Dieguez, S.; Assal, G. (Lausanne); Bogousslavsky, J. (Montreux) 75 De novo Artistic Behaviour following Brain Injury Pollak, T.A.; Mulvenna, C.M.; Lythgoe, M.F. (London) 89 Marcel Proust s Diseases and Doctors: The Neurological Story of a Life Bogousslavsky, J. (Montreux) 105 Heinrich Heine and Syphilis auf der Horst, C. (Düsseldorf) 121 Baudelaire s Aphasia: From Poetry to Cursing Dieguez, S. (Lausanne); Bogousslavsky, J. (Montreux) V

150 Memory and the Creation of Art: The Syndrome, as in de Kooning, of Creating in the Midst of Dementia. An ArtScience Study of Creation, Its Brain Methods and Results Espinel, C.H. (Washington, D.C.) 169 Persisting Aphasia, Cerebral Dominance, and Painting in the Famous Artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd Colombo-Thuillard, F. (Fribourg); Assal, G. (Lausanne) 184 Mozart in the Neurological Department Who Has the Tic? Kammer, T. (Ulm) 193 Hans von Bülow: Creativity and Neurological Disease in a Famous Pianist and Conductor Wöhrle, J.C. (Koblenz/Mannheim); Haas, F. (Karlsruhe) 206 Synaesthesia, the Arts and Creativity: A Neurological Connection Mulvenna, C.M. (London) 223 The Hallucinating Art of Heinrich Füssli Baumann, C.; Lentzsch, F.; Regard, M.; Bassetti, C. (Zürich) 236 Author Index 237 Subject Index Contents VI

Preface While artistic, literary, and musical creativity are perhaps the most fascinating of all human achievements, their basic brain counterparts remain poorly defined. It is likely that the brain participates as a whole in creativity, which can be defined as the ability to produce new and original works which stimulate interest or appeal esthetically. Creativity is a general feature of all humans, and everyone is indeed creative on numerous occasions during his or her life. On the other hand, only a very limited number of individuals achieve what can be called extraordinary creativity, and which refers in particular to an ability to deconstruct established executive habits and tastes leading to truly novel productions, be it in science, art or other domains. When disease, especially brain disease, challenges the capabilities of one of these extraordinarily creative individuals, the changes that consequently occur in their productions provide a unique opportunity to explore the mysteries of creativity, particularly in the artistic field. Sometimes creativity is lost through disease and sometimes it is modified and occasionally, though more rarely, it may be enhanced or augmented. In the previous volume Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists edited by Dr. François Boller and one of the current editors, we presented a large series of famous painters, writers, poets, musicians, and philosophers who had developed some form of neurological dysfunction, and we focused on the influence of these pathologies on their work. We soon realized that several other artists whose style and output changed following a stroke, meningitis, or other cerebral disorder demanded a similar approach, since their personal lives and creative output were enormously modified by their disease. VII

Mozart, Baudelaire, de Kooning, Proust, Heine, von Bülow, Reuterswärd, Corinth, Füssli, Fellini, Visconti and others are all striking examples of how extraordinary creativity can be challenged and modified or destroyed or restored within the individual drama of disease. There are examples of de novo creativity following cerebral lesion, although we are not aware of any worldfamous artist whose creativity first developed subsequent to brain damage. An alteration in the creativity of an artist can provide unique and fresh insights into the complex relationships between cerebral dysfunction and behavior. It may also be useful in better understanding the evolution of certain artists, particularly when the course of a disease corresponds with what is recognized as a new chapter in their work. Julien Bogousslavsky Michael G. Hennerici Preface VIII