Samples & Related Artists

Adolf Wolfli

Adolf Wolfli (1864 - 1930) was active/lived in Switzerland, Germany.  Adolf Wolfli is known for Outsider art, art brut, pencil drawing.

Adolf Wölfli (occasionally spelled Adolf Woelfli or Adolf Wolfli) was a Swiss artist who was one of the first artists to be associated with the Art Brut or outsider art label.

Wölfli was born in Bern, Switzerland. He was abused both physically and sexually as a child, and was orphaned at the age of 10. He thereafter grew up in a series of state-run foster homes. He worked as a Verdingbub (indentured child labourer) and briefly joined the army, but was later convicted of attempted child molestation, for which he served prison time.

After being freed, he was re-arrested for a similar offense and in 1895 was admitted to the Waldau Clinic, a psychiatric hospital in Bern where he spent the rest of his adult life. He was very disturbed and sometimes violent on admission, leading to him being kept in isolation for his early time at hospital. He suffered from psychosis, which led to intense hallucinations.

At some point after his admission Wölfli began to draw. His first   ...  [Displaying 1000 of 5898 characters.]  Artist bio

Artist auction records

.  askART's database currently holds 104 auction lots for Adolf Wolfli (of which 77 auction records sold and 0 are upcoming at auction.)

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Research resources

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Similar artists

.  There are 24 similar (related) artists for Adolf Wolfli available:    Aloise Corbaz,  Augustin Lesage,  Friedrich Schroder-Sonnenstern,  Shields Landon (S L) Jones,  Adolf Dietrich,  Carlo Zinelli,  Josephus Farmer,  Felipe Jesus Consalvos,  Emma Kunz,  Anselme Bois-Vives,  George Williams,  Sam Doyle,  Eugen Gabritschevsky,  Harold Theodore (Ted) Gordon,  Raymond Coins,  William Hawkins,  Felipe Archuleta,  Leroy Almon,  Henry Speller,  Ed Mumma,  Madge Gill,  Herbert "Coon" Singleton,  Daniel Pressley,  Philip Willey