Psychiatry in pictures

Me, Myself, I (1987), Allan Beveridge.

Writing in 1991, Allan Beveridge said:

“There is a symbolic structure to the picture. The clowns' faces represent aspects of myself. The chess board and chess men represent intelligence and the exposed brain with the dagger represents the ill mind. The rest of the picture is biographical in nature. The arrangement of needles, pills and cigarettes used to promote harmony and at the bottom left of the picture the uneven surface where the pills are being straightened out by the injection (Modecate which kept me well for years). The clown faces are from left to right sad and anxious, note the hairstyle, middle, the ‘smile of reason’ with spiky logical hair, and lastly round and jovial with curly wispy hair lightened by bubbles. All these are different aspects of self. Execution of the picture took place in three stages. Firstly it was started on a plain piece of scraperboard with no guidelines, just dots to delineate the brain. The brain on being completed was left, and the second stage, the chess board and surrounds were completed. This left me with a semi-complete picture. Think of the challenge, all done except the clowns' faces, but they drew themselves and tied the picture together as a harmonic whole.”

The picture is on display at the Bethlem Royal Hospital Archives and Museum. Thanks to Allan Beveridge for permission to reproduce his picture.