Being acquainted with the history of Outsider Art, one can not get rid of temptation to recognize this form of artistic expression as a part of the creativity of mentally ill people, the outsiders of our society. However, not any art work created by a mentally disturbed person can be regarded as a work of Outsider Art and not all outsider artists are interesting for psychiatrists. Consequently, we need to work out precise moments that can help us to relate a work of art to Outsider Art. Unfortunately, the term Outsider Art is sometimes misused to define the works of all non-professional artists.

   To illustrate this question we decide to give the opportunity to compare two main notions in the field. Art Brut is a term introduced by Dubuffet in 1945 for the works that he collected. Later this term was used for the Collection de I'Art Brut (Lausanne.) Art Brut is regarded as art in its purest manifistation, as a spontaneous psychic flow going from the depth of sub-consciousness the flow that is embodied on paper or realized in the material.

   - Art Brut represents the works that are original and unique in form and content;

   - The creators do not recognize themselves as artists and even realize that they "make an".

   The term "0utsider Art" was used as an English equivalent for Art Brut. (Later it was applied to the wider specter of works including some of the works in the "Neuve Invention" category.) Outsider Art is characterized by less strict definition, by the orientation on changes that have happened during the last decades in social cultural environment. Outsider Art may be defined as following:

   All art works - paintings, graphics, sculptures, installations and various constructions - by people who have no artistic background and who create without any relation to the acceptance of artistic world, marketplace and definitions.

   Outsider artists are the people who produce art for themselves or their immediate community until collectors or experts define their works as the works of art. Outsider Art fascinates us with its internal purity and astonishing sincerity. It is essentially prime: a person who have no formal training in art, who is free from copying traditional art models, can express only what he feels subconsciously and only when the necessity to express himself becomes intolerable. The outsider artist does not follow any cultural traditions (in opposition to the representatives of the ancient non-European civilizations or folk artists), he is very persistent in finishing everything he starts; one can only be astonished at the vast pieces of art, the artist works on for hours or sometimes years. He follows his own way that differs greatly from the usual one. Outsider Art is both comprehensible (though such comprehension may be imaginary) and elite. On the one hand, each of us can appreciate an artwork on the level of primer emotions even without any special knowledge. Those who have no special art education often think that outsider artists are "similar" to them in this sphere. On the other hand, the adherence to traditional cultural cliches is so great that one can value Outsider Art only after studying the long way of official culture. This contradiction may be the reason of negative attitude of some spectators towards Outsider Art; or even jealousy of professional artists. The problem of cultural distance between the "brut" artist and his audience has been presented for ages: either this gap is too big for adequate reaction to spontaneous art works or too small and have to be artificially enlarged.

   One more thing... We are so used to finding "reason - consequence" links that can hardly perceive any image far from representation of reality without any ((additional materials. In the field of Outsider Art one can use information on life and inner world of the artist as such material. This information plays a dual role: it helps a spectator to meet a work of art both at the emotional and logical levels: it also serves as a "proof" of the authors belonging to the category of social outsiders. Unfortunately, it is impossible for mass audience to understand an unknown phenomenon without such approach. In some cases a Cultural Man has to "understand" in order to "accept" and to "study" in order to "understand." Do we have to focus on such "educational" approach or we should better leave the spectator tete-a-tete with the work of art and his feelings? This question might be asked continuously... Let us leave it aside and turn to the following: Who can pretend to be the real author of "raw" art? Besides those who are "on the other side of mental health", that can be spiritual outsiders and the so-called innocents who represent the category of the strange ones being not regarded as crazy ones. The first group is deliberately isolated from the society because they do not correspond to the mental "norm." others spend their lifetime in the real world but accept the alternative reality which they depict in their extremely inventive works of art. The deeper they were drowning inside themselves the stronger and more beautiful their images were becoming. The state of autism helped (and helps) "discovered" and unknown authors to be outside, out of the social life perhaps not physically but mentally. Today's reality that presses a personality can harm this state. The most of outsider artists can hardly defend their internal worlds that serve as the only source and reserve for their activity. By depriving the author of his egocentric concentration, collectors, experts, dealers and just media representatives destroy fragile balance that is necessary for a "pure" artistic expression. The reaction of the "attention subject" of the socially adapted people can differ greatly: from scare aroused by visitors to megalomania, from the production of art works to order to the destruction of the existing works. In rare cases an artist "under wardship" of interested intellectuals and businessmen is indifferent to the outside activity; he continues to exist in his alternative reality. If this moment is considered as a test for being an Outsider artist, authentic Outsider Art turns into unachievable limit that is a goal for thousands but only few can reach it. Simultaneously, one can raise a question of possible division of art heritage of the authors into the parts "before" and "after" an official acceptance. The answer cannot have only one meaning, however, the most serious collectors and investigators of Outsider Art have to solve this problem. The reason is explicable. The desire to separate "pure" art from the official culture by collecting and popularizing "wild" works has led to the formation of art collections that are appropriate for the assimilation by the main art institutions. Being unable to change the existing order of things, the collectors had to accept it; the process of "socialization" of Outsider Art developed in the beaten way assuming all known forms of working with art material. The inclusion of "raw" art into the values of the official culture became a final point of the attempt to oppose these polar phenomena. The works primarily recognized as "strangers" in the realm of the Traditional Beauty were put in a museum frame and attributed as the heritage of the XX century. The desire to win turned to be the defeat?! One should not make such conclusions. In spite of the fact that all the information on Outsider Art can be got by official channels, this art still exists, making us wonder by internal harmony. If you have a chance to meet their strange and astonishing universe without troubling it, try to do it - and it will become one of the brightest impressions in your life!