Adolf Wölfli was a Swiss artist, writer, and musician. He was one of the first artists to be associated with the Art Brut or outsider art label.
Background
Mr. Wölfli was born in Bern, Switzerland, on February 29, 1864. The youngest of seven children of Jakob and Anna Wölfli-Feuz, Wölfli had a tumultuous childhood. The same year when he was born, the family moved to Bern. His father, a stonecutter, was an alcoholic and eventually abandoned his family about 1870. When in 1872 his mother became ill and could no longer support the family on the money she made as a laundress, authorities resettled her and Wölfli in Schangnau. Though supported by the community, mother and son were sent to work at different farms. His mother died the next year, and the nine-year-old boy was sent to various foster homes, where he was often mistreated and sometimes abused.
Education
Adolf Wölfli completed a secondary-school education about 1879.
Career
From 1881 to 1882 Mr. Wölfli worked for a wealthy farmer in Zäziwil, and he fell in love with a girl whose father forbade him to see her. Dejected, Wölfli moved to Bern. He took a variety of mostly agriculture-related jobs and in 1883-1884 served in the military in Lucerne.
In the spring of 1890, he attempted to sexually assault a 14-year-old girl but was stopped by passersby. In August of the same year, he unsuccessfully attempted an assault on a five-year-old girl, was arrested, and spent two years in prison. When Adolf Wölfli was released, he worked at various jobs, including as a gravedigger and a cement layer. He became more isolated and aggressive over time. In May 1895 he once again tried to assault a girl - this time a three-year-old. After his arrest he was admitted to Waldau Mental Asylum in Bern, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He remained a patient at Waldau until his death.
During his first few years at the institution, he demonstrated paranoia, hallucinations, and violent behaviour, and he was often sent to solitary confinement. In 1899 Wölfli began drawing, an activity that noticeably calmed him; despite that early start, his oldest extant drawings date from 1904. He began to work on a massive autobiography in 1908; it is a compilation of prose, poetry, drawings, collages, and musical compositions (which he sometimes performed on a cardboard horn). He divided the narrative into five parts: From the Cradle to the Grave (nine books; 1908-1912), Geographic and Algebraic Books (seven books; 1912-1916), Books with Songs and Dances (six books; 1917-1922), Album Books with Dances and Marches (eight books; 1924-1928), and Funeral March (16 books; 1928-1930, unfinished). Even though the work ended abruptly at the time of Adolf Wölfli’s death, the volumes stacked on top of each other stood about six feet (nearly two meters) high. From 1916 Mr. Wölfli also produced what he called Brotkunst ("bread art"), single-sheet drawings he would sell for income.
Mr. Wölfli’s autobiography depicted an outlandish version of his life. Writing as Doufi, which was a childhood nickname, he explored the universe. Later he began to refer to himself as St. Adolf II, in which persona he participated in a grand cosmic battle. He also signed many of his later art works "St. Adolf II." His art was characterized by its obsessive, surrealistic quality, strong emphasis on symmetry and geometric shapes, and use of colour.
The psychiatrist Walter Morgenthaler, who arrived at Waldau in 1907, supported Wölfli’s pursuits and published a monograph on him in 1921 called Madness and Art: The Life and Works of Adolf Wölfli. Its publication resulted in exhibitions of Wölfli’s work in bookshops across Zürich.
Personality
Adolf Wölfli was a dangerous man who was characterized by aggressive behaviour.