“Some of Mr Dittborn’s imagery is commissioned rather than found. He asked the director of a Chilean psychiatric hospital to invite patients to draw faces and received about 500 in return—all done by a schizophrenic who signed his pictures “Allan 26A”. On another occasion, the artist commissioned heroin addicts at a rehab centre in Rotterdam to draw their childhood home as well as a home they would like to have. Mr Dittborn even got his daughter, Margarita, working for him when she was seven years old, making drawings in exchange for pesos. (She is now 28 and an artist in her own right.) By these means, the artist has integrated “outsider art” into his oeuvre. Guessing the sources of the images, particularly in works that catalogue social types such as “The History of the Face” series, can be part of the fun in viewing a Dittborn.”
Art History Ramblings 