First published: Summer 2025
Barbara Šafářová, director of abcd, talks about the work of founder Bruno Decharme, his remarkable donation to the Centre Pompidou, and their forthcoming Paris show
“His 45 years of building the collection have brought together more than 6,000 works. Some of these stand out as more important than others, masterpieces that have become the classics of today, created by artists such as Adolf Wölfli, Aloïse Corbaz, Martín Ramírez, Henry Darger, Augustin Lesage, Anna Zemánková, Emery Blagdon, Auguste Forestier – but also of particular significance are discoveries of extremely rare works: a book by Charles AA Dellschau; a gouache by Georgiana Houghton; an embroidery by an anonymous artist mentioned in early twentieth-century psychiatric publications; and many other treasures which have never been exhibited before.
Aloïse Corbaz, Snake Necklace, c. 1956, oil pastel, coloured pencil and graphite pencil on paper, 17.5 x 23 in. / 44 x 58 cm. Courtesy: ART BRUT / donation Bruno Decharme in 2021, Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI
“Often the work of art brut creators has survived thanks to its improbable rescue by doctors, nurses, friends, appreciative amateurs, collectors, art dealers – the vital “agents” without whom this art on the fringes would have sunk into oblivion and simply disappeared. For many years, Bruno wanted his collection to remain intact, as a whole, and not to disappear or get dispersed. For him, when one has the chance to bring together such riches – a collection of pieces that have historic value and are almost impossible to acquire – one has a responsibility. Even if they are part of a private collection, the works are part of a cultural heritage, and always the property of their makers, the artists. Bruno, as a collector and vital “agent”, wanted to preserve a selection of the most important pieces of his own collection.
Henry Darger, At Wickey San-Rinia – They are Captured... , between 1950 and 1960, watercolour, ink, graphite pencil and collage, 47.5 x 19 in. / 120.5 x 48 cm. Courtesy: ART BRUT / donation Bruno Decharme in 2021, Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI
“In 2021, he donated a body of 1000 works to the Musée National d’Art Moderne (MNAM) in the Centre Pompidou, thus allowing the museum to create its first department of art brut. For MNAM, a museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art, this acquisition constitutes a real breakthrough, a cultural revolution, one could say. It means “repairing” a history nourished by ignorance and misunderstanding, as demonstrated by the experiences of Dubuffet more than 50 years ago. The responsibility for this wrongdoing was shared between the world of the traditional institution – which did not recognise the value of art brut – and certain defenders of art brut who were critical of “official“ art.
Bruno Decharme and Barbara Šafářová at the Grand Palais, 2025. Courtesy: ART BRUT / donation Bruno Decharme in 2021, Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI
By BARBARA ŠAFÁŘOVÁ
This is an article extract; read the full article in Raw Vision #123.
