Adlof Wolfli is considered to be one of the leading figures of Art Brut. Collected indepth by Jean Dubuffet, this artists' work was the subject of a major exhibition and catalogue at the American Museum of Folk Art in 2003.

In 1895 Wolfli was confined for life to the Waldau Clinic in Bern. There he composed a 25,000 page autobiography in over 40 volumes that were illustrated with drawings, poems,and musical scores. These handmade artists' book are now in the Wolfli Foundation in Switzerland. Wolfli also made what he called "Bread Art", art that is generally considered what he would make to sell and sustain himself