ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 investigates Jung’s letter to Herbert Read (1893–1968) in 1960. The letter provides further insight into Jung’s consistently negative attitude towards modern art, written nearly 30 years after his initial comments in 1932 on Picasso. Furthermore, Jung’s notion of what constitutes a ‘great’ artist is explored and confirms how Jung came to view modern art as distinctly different from how he viewed ‘classical’ artforms. These areas of exploration lead us towards one of the most important aspects of Jung’s relationship with art, and that is his breakdown of 1912–1916, which resulted in his creation of the Red Book. During his period of instability, Jung recorded his experience through text and paintings—thus, Jung’s connection with his own artworks in relation to his negative attitude towards modern art is discussed in detail.
