The VM as Outsider Art

[Koen G]

I still think both paradigms cannot be compared. 

Wölfli is an outsider artist because he was not trained in any of the major art styles of his time. When they say he was uneducated, that's what they mean. He had clearly been to school and learned how to read and write though. Learned how to use writing utensils, some basic techniques... What makes him an outsider artist is that artistically he does his own thing, without any reference to the art styles of the time, nor any apparent interest to reference them.

The Voynich references (depending on who you ask) herbals, the Balneis tradition, Zodiacs, pharmacologies, astronomical/astrological diagrams, mappamundi... It almost seems desperate to follow the cultural expectations of its time, despite some apparent difficulties to do so.

Wölfli's education and means were probably below average for his time, but he ventured to make his own art despite this. The means and education of the Voynich makers were well above average for their time, and they produced the VM, for whatever reason.