One of the most unusual pieces in the Prinzhorn Collection is a 260 cm-long strip of collaged images. We have no vital records or biographical information for the creator, “Frau St.”.  Most likely, she belonged to the wealthy upper class, as she was a patient in the private sanatorium for the “mentally ill and emotionally disturbed” in the Oberdöbling suburb of Vienna. In 1920, the clinic director sent this artwork to Hans Prinzhorn for the Heidelberg collection, including only the information “Frau St., dementia praecox?”.

The collage consists mostly of unprinted margins of newspapers, which were glued together. Onto this, Frau St. created patterns using lead and colored pencils, gouache and ink, gluing snippets of images from magazines on top. Much is reminiscent of writing, although it is not “legible” in the usual sense of the word. The size, the unconventional form, and the inventive technique all make this piece exceptional. The date found on the newspaper clippings reveals that it was created in 1890/91, long before the technique of collage in the history of art was “invented”.

Images: Frau St., strip of collaged images, circa 1890, Inv. No. 3417 © Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg University Hospital