Henri-Jacques Stiker's Study on Disabled Bodies in Art
Henri-Jacques Stiker, president of ALTER society for the history of disabilities, publishes "Les fables peintes du corps abîmé" with Éditions du Cerf. The book examines how art from the Renaissance onward has depicted physical disability, tracing an evolution from Breughel's buffoonish infirmities to Velázquez's plastic compositions, and from Callot, Goya, and Otto Dix's expressions of distress to Frida Kahlo's culminating agony of humanism. Stiker argues that Francis Bacon's "non-body" departs from the true disabled body, focusing instead on irreparable wounds contrary to humanity. The study is based on concrete experience with the world of human disability.
Key facts
- Henri-Jacques Stiker is the author and president of ALTER society for the history of handicaps and deficiencies.
- The book is titled 'Les fables peintes du corps abîmé' and published by Éditions du Cerf.
- The study covers artistic depictions of physical disability from the Renaissance onward.
- Artists discussed include Breughel, Velázquez, Callot, Goya, Otto Dix, Frida Kahlo, and Francis Bacon.
- Stiker notes a shift from 'infirmité bouffonnante' to plastic games between body composition and meaning decomposition.
- The work culminates with Frida Kahlo's representation of the slow agony of humanism.
- Francis Bacon's 'non-body' is seen as straying from the true disabled body.
- The author is known for numerous essays on disability and efforts to destigmatize it.
Entities
Artists
- Henri-Jacques Stiker
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- Diego Velázquez
- Jacques Callot
- Francisco Goya
- Otto Dix
- Frida Kahlo
- Francis Bacon
Institutions
- ALTER
- Éditions du Cerf
Sources
- artpress —