Bryan Charnley (20 September 1949 – 19 July 1991)[1] was a British artist who had paranoid schizophrenia,[2][3] and explored its effects in his work.

With his twin brother he grew up in London, Chislehurst, in Kent, Cranfield, where his father worked as a Senior Lecturer, and finally in Bromham near Bedford.

In 1969, Charnley gained a place at the Central School of Art and Design in Holborn, London, but was unable to complete the course due to another breakdown that was later diagnosed as acute schizophrenia.

[9] However, from 1987 onwards, he increasingly drew on Sigmund Freud's theories about dreams, using elaborate symbolism to convey his mental state.

[11] Charnley's elaborately symbolist work from this period includes To the Farm (1987), Grey Self-Portrait (1986), and Brooch Schizophrene (1987), paintings that have also since been acquired by Bethlem Museum of the Mind.

[14] Charnley made the diary an integral part of the portraits using the text to explain the imagery he was using and to describe his existential state.