Artists in many fields, such as music, graphic art, and literature, are often seen as creative, or perhaps even slightly crazy. This stigma is backed up by a legion of historicalartists who have engaged in a multitude of eccentric behaviors, such as Van Gogh, famous for his paintings as well as the legend of his self-mutilation of his ear, and Ludwig van Beethoven, the musician and pianist who wrote beautiful music, yet who had a temper that bordered on bipolar disorder. Recent studies revolving around artists’ brains reveal that such theories are not wholly inaccurate; artists truly may be slightly crazy, yet the topic is still very much a controversy.

Evidence and experiments conducted by numerous scientists suggest that artistic talent,creativity, and mental disturbances may be intricately linked through genetics. As reportedby The Guardian, one study in Iceland found that, on average, people in a creative profession (e.g. painters, musicians, and dancers)were 25% more likely to carry genetic variants for bipolar disorder and schizophreniathan professions deemed “less creative” (e.g. farmers, manual laborers, and salesmen).

Though studies such as the one described are controversial for their “flimsiness,” it is a known fact that artists’ brains are different from the average person’s. Structure-wise, artists have a significantly greater amount of grey matter, a part of the brain responsible for routine and fine motor control, than non-artists, according to scans and research publishedin Neurolmage and reported by BBC News.

However, there are plenty of opinions that clash with the artist’s crazy image. An articlepublished by Huffington Post featured a study in which viewersjudged Van Gogh’s painting, Sunflowers. Half of the participants were informed of his ear mutilationlegend, and the otherswere not; the authors of the study reported later that ‘the art was evaluatedmore positively when Van Gogh’s eccentric behavior was mentioned,’reinforcing the notion that insanity makes an artist’s work more interesting. The idea is further backed up by Stanford Journal’s by Adrienne Sussman. Sussman questions the link between creativity and craziness, writingthat the insane aspect was so desirable that “[t]o be a serious artist, one needed to be ‘touched,’ spurring some artists to actually mimic madness or eccentricity in order to be more respected for their creative work.”While there are scientific studies that explorethe connection between creativity and insanity, they tend to be somewhat doubtful it their application. It seems that, as crazy as it may sound, artists actually seek an element of craziness in their work to gain public attention.

The artist’s brain may not be the same as a non-artistic person’s brain, but more conclusive research is needed to draw definite answers as to whether an artist truly is crazy.


<Sarah Choe>