On December 20, 1951, French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) gave his now-famous “Anticultural Positions” speech at the Arts Club of Chicago. Coining the term Art Brut (“raw” or “rough” art), Dubuffet spoke of the merits of art created away from the competition and fame-seeking mentality often associated with mainstream culture. Outsider Art, the English synonym for Art Brut, is a more all-encompassing term also applied to the works of self-taught artists, eccentrics, isolates, compulsive visionaries, and the mentally ill.
