Monomania

In Monomania, artist Fiona Tan explores how the human mind has been represented: the tension between the visible and the invisible, and the desire to capture the unseen – the mind – in images.

Taking Théodore Géricault’s intriguing Portrait of a Kleptomaniac as her starting point, Tan traces the origins of psychiatry in the nineteenth century through the lens of a once central, now forgotten diagnosis: monomania. Personal impressions, archival research and formal analysis lead to a reflection on the interplay between art, science and representation. What was seen as ‘madness’ at the time? How was it depicted? And what can those images tell us today?

Tan’s inquiry resulted in Janine’s Room (2025), a large-scale video installation in which reality and imagination gradually merge. In addition, the fascinating prints, photographs, paintings, Japanese masks and objects which she selected for the exhibition at the Rijksmuseum are reproduced here.

Monomania is a compelling social and art historical portrait of the boundaries of the mind – and our enduring attempts to grasp them.