Opening on April 12, 2024, and situated at the intersection of art and psychiatry, Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut, explores for the first time in the United States the legacy of Catalan psychiatrist Francesc Tosquelles (1912, Reus, Spain–1994, Granges-sur-Lot, France).
Somewhere to Roost, also on view beginning April 12, features over 60 works including paintings, textiles, photographs, and sculptures, and explores the ways that artists evoke and construct ideas of “home." Taken both literally and metaphorically, Somewhere to Roost represents spaces where artists live and work, as well as places remembered, imagined, or dreamed.
Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut is supported in part by the Art Dealers Association of America Foundation, Nina Beaty, the David Davies and Jack Weeden Fund for Exhibitions, the Institut Ramon Llull, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, Susan Weiler, the Anthony Petullo Foundation, and the Dorothea & Leo Rabkin Foundation.
AFAM is the the final stop in a four-venue collaboration of this exhibition, was presented in 2021–2023 at the Abattoirs, Musée–Frac Occitanie Toulouse, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. At the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM), it is curated by Joana Masó, Carles Guerra, Valérie Rousseau, and Edward Dioguardi. Co-organized by CCCB and the Abattoirs, this exhibition developed from a research project entitled “Llegat oblidat de Francesc Tosquelles” (“Francesc Tosquelles’ Forgotten Legacy”), co-produced by the University of Barcelona, Mir-Puig Private Foundation (Barcelona), and Antoni Tàpies Foundation (Barcelona).
Somewhere to Roost is supported by The Henry Luce Foundation, which seeks to enrich public discourse by promoting innovative scholarship, cultivating new leaders, and fostering international understanding. A leader in art funding since 1982, the Luce Foundation’s American Art Program supports innovative museum projects nationwide that advance art-centered conversations that celebrate creativity, explore difference, and seek common ground. Learn more at http://www.hluce.org.
Images: (L) Romain Vigouroux (n.d., France), Francesc Tosquelles on the Roof of a Building at Saint-Alban Psychiatric Hospital, Holding a Sculpture by Auguste Forestier, 1947, gelatin silver print, 7 x 4 7/8 in., Collection Family Ou-Rabah Tosquelles. (R) R) Marguerite Sirvins (1890–1957, France), Untitled, c. 1941. Embroidered silk thread on fabric. 8 5/8 x 10 in. Collection Family Ou-Rabah Tosquelles.
