52. Letter from Donald Winnicott to Roger Money-Kyrle, 17th March 1955

17th March 1955.

Dear Money-Kyrle,

This letter is a wee note about what you said outside the clinic last night. I look forward to the paper in which you bring in the idea of the infant creating the world. I am only writing to ask you to consider my view, which is that it has been very difficult to get Klein followers to see this idea during the past decade. If one mentions it one was considered to be throwing away the whole depressive position concept. Now it seems that it is de rigeur and I think that now it may be possible for members of the Klein group to do the analysis of artists and of artistic productions in ordinary patients.

In my view Adrian Stokes' book1 is a sad example of an artist who struggles to cram artistic production into the introjection-projection systems and the concept of the depressive position, but the main thing that is evident is his failure since as a creative person he cannot allow it.

With good wishes,

Yours,

D. W. Winnicott.