Inside Outsider Art: Challenges and Opportunities for a Marginalized Genre

Outsider art encompasses the work of artists, typically self-taught, who experience some form of marginalization and do not proactively participate in the mainstream art world. Adored in part for the biographies of the artists and in part for the quality of the art, the genre has become increasingly popular in secondary markets and museums over the last half century. However, buyers of outsider art still find it difficult to authenticate and attribute works. This Note examines the challenges inherent in outsider art and proposes three opportunities that can help address the challenges with authentication and provenance in outsider art while also providing deserved recognition, respect, and legitimization to outsider artists and their art.