Salvador Dalí sublimates his madness without ever falling into it. Antonin Artaud, confronted with childhood traumas, oscillates all his life between an overflowing creation and fits of madness. Niki de Saint Phalle, thanks to artistic expression, is cured of a deep depression linked to the trauma of incest. Vincent Van Gogh, to reach the peak of his art, puts himself in danger until he ends up committing suicide. Camille Claudel exhausts himself in his creation to end up interned without ever creating again... Based on the life and work of a dozen brilliant artists, Thierry Delcourt tries to understand the passages between the heights of creation and the the artist's abyss. Why do some go mad while others go through existence without a hitch? Why do sick people find healing by creating? Why the haunting need of many artists to create tirelessly? To these fascinating questions, The Madness of the Artist provides striking answers on creation on the edge of the abyss.