Gheorghe Marinescu's studies on the influence of mescaline on artistic creativity.
Irina Dora Magurean, Vlaicu Sandor, Dan L Dumitrascu
Medicine and Pharmacy Reports October 1, 2025 DOI: 10.15386/mpr-2901 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2 |
| Population | Two professional painters |
| Intervention | Mescaline |
| Topics | Mescaline |
| Keywords | Gheorghe marinescu History of medicine Narcotics Painting |
| Key points | Argues that Gheorghe Marinescu's 1933 publication on mescaline's visual effects in two professional painters is significant for the history of medicine and avant-garde fine arts. |
Abstract
The artists of the avant-garde experienced numerous psychotropic drugs in order to stimulate their creativity. Between the two world wars, physicians, especially neurologists and psychiatrists, performed several studies on visual artists. The aim of this paper is to present a French medical journal, where the famous Romanian neurologist Gheorghe Marinescu published some of his studies on the effect of mescaline on two professional painters. An anniversary issue of the French journal La Presse Médicale, including the work of Gheorghe Marinescu on mescaline and its influence on color vision is described. The publication belongs to the authors' private collection. The pharmacological effects of mescaline on visual sensitivity and some historical medical attempts to assess this effect are also included. Mescaline was administered by Gheorghe Marinescu to two visual artists who were asked to describe their sensations and cognitions under the effect of this substance. Their sensations and feelings were recorded. The paintings created by the artists are reproduced. They look like surrealistic and abstract art. The famous Romanian neurologist Gheorghe Marinescu published in the French journal La Presse Médicale an interesting report of the visual effects of mescaline in two professional painters. This paper is important for the history of medicine and of the avant-gardist fine arts.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mescaline, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schizophrenia: A New Approach. II. Result of a Year's Research | 1954 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Thought insertion as a self-disturbance: An integration of predictive coding and phenomenological approaches | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Entactogens: How the Name for a Novel Class of Psychoactive Agents Originated | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Steric and Electronic Relationships among Some Hallucinogenic Compounds | 1970 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| EFFECT OF DRUGS One individual | 1952 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | n = 1 |