Visionary Art - Definition

Definition

The American Visionary Art Museum defines Visionary art as "....art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself." In short, Visionary art begins by listening to the inner voices and inner perception of the soul.> It goes on to say that visionary art is a product of an inner process, and may not even be thought of as art by its creator; it also differentiates Visionary art from Folk art.

Both trained and self-taught (or outsider) artists have, and continue to create visionary works, refining and training with intensity. This further fuels the argument that the American Visionary Art Museum definition is a misplaced definition for what is simply known as “outsider", or “naive” art, though they do occasionally show artists from the continually defined genre. Additionally, many visionary artists of this type are actively engaged in spiritual practices, and some have drawn inspiration from hallucinogenic intoxication.

Walter Schurian, professor at the University of Münster, is quick to point out the difficulties in describing visionary art as if it were a discrete genre, since "it is difficult to know where to start and where to stop. Recognized trends have all had their fantastic component, so demarcation is apt to be fuzzy."

Despite this ambiguity, there does seem to be emerging some definition to what constitutes the contemporary visionary art 'scene' and which artists can be considered especially influential. Contemporary visionary artists count Hieronymous Bosch, William Blake, Morris Graves (of the Pacific Northwest School of Visionary Art), Emil Bisttram, and Gustave Moreau amongst their antecedents. Symbolism, Surrealism and Psychedelic art are also direct precursors to contemporary visionary art.