An Elephant with a Tusk

Born and raised in Vienna, Oswald Tschirtner enlisted in the German Army under the Third Reich. Captured and imprisoned, he was interned in France until 1946. He eventually returned to Austria, was hospitalized in 1954 for psychological disorders, and was later transferred to a neurological and psychiatric hospital in the village, Maria Gugging, which housed patients diagnosed as without hope of recovery. Patients were encouraged to draw, paint, and write poetry. Although psychiatrist Leo Navratil initially regarded these creative endeavors as providing insight into a patient’s mental state, he also came to value their artistic creations in their own right. In 1981, Navratil established an artists’ colony on the grounds of the hospital and Tschirtner was one of the first residents. By encouraging the serious recognition of patients’ works, Navratil and fellow psychiatrist Johann Feilacher believed that patients like Tschirtner, suffering from schizophrenia, could be reintegrated into society.