(1901 – 1985), France

Jean Dubuffet Biography

Jean Dubuffet was a radical painter, printmaker and sculptor, determined to break down many of the barriers between high and low art in his search for the authentic or genuine. Dubuffet explored unusual materials in his innovative visual practice and tirelessly promoted art brut (outsider art). Highly influential as a writer on peripheral forms of art-making, Dubuffet generated considerable interest in untutored art practices hitherto considered repulsive, childlike, medically therapeutic or for prison inmates, opening up new fields of research into image production and eventually new markets—a development he would later parody. Yet for all his success and influence in the art world, he came to his artistic practice late in life—in his early 40s. Up until then he ran a wholesale wine business.

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Regarding clumsy paint application, inaccurate draughtsmanship and muddy, disturbingly faecal-like textures—created by mixing oil paint with sand, tar and straw, and embedding detritus—as positive attributes, Dubuffet's ideas were very unusual, though often not entirely new. They grew out of his dislike of meticulous craftsmanship and refined intellectualism, an interest in children's art and a wish that his works look worn, scratched and battered. He despised the precious and exalted. He saw the unrestrained, raw, instinctive and violent as positive, valuable and oddly innocent. He was also attracted to the work of Dr Hans Prinzhorn, who studied the art of the mentally ill.

An inveterate exhibition-maker popular in North America and Europe, Dubuffet championed anti-bourgeoisie, anti-academy culture and non-professionalism with several styles, though he is best known for using red and blue, and compressed, organic, wobbly shapes on polystyrene. Later in his career he worked in fibreglass and resin in black and white. For most of his career, he concentrated on portraits of ordinary people, farm animals and mundane household objects.

From 1946 on, Dubuffet was represented by and showed regularly at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, where he became unexpectedly popular and maintained a high profile. He was inspired by Algerian tribal art and made several trips to the Sahara.

Dubuffet presented acclaimed exhibitions at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris (1960); The Museum of Modern Art, New York (1962); Art Institute of Chicago (1962); Palazzo Grassi, Venice (1964); Tate, London (1966); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1966); and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1966). A book of his writings, Prospectus et tous écrits suivants (Prospectus and all subsequent texts), was published in 1967. Retrospectives include: Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen (1957); Akademie der Künste, Berlin (1980); Museum moderner Kunst, Vienna (1980); Josef Haubrich Kunsthalle, Cologne (1981); and Centre Pompidou, Paris (2001).

John Hurrel | Ocula | 2018

Jean Dubuffet
featured artworks

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La fougère au chapeau by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork print
Jean Dubuffet La fougère au chapeau, 1953 Lithograph
64 x 47 cm
Galerie Lelong & Co. Paris Request Price & Availability
Site avec 3 personnages by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork painting, works on paper
Jean Dubuffet Site avec 3 personnages, 1981 Acrylic on canvas-backed paper
67.3 x 50.2 cm
David Kordansky Gallery Request Price & Availability
Banc-Salon by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork painting
Jean Dubuffet Banc-Salon, 1970-2024 Polyurethane paint on epoxy
63 x 549 x 405 cm
Pace Gallery Request Price & Availability
Araber mit Turban by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork painting
Jean Dubuffet Araber mit Turban, 1948 Coloured pencils on paper
34 x 24 cm
Beck & Eggeling International Fine Art Request Price & Availability
LA GORGERETTE FRONCÉE (THE PUCKERED COLLAR) by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork painting, works on paper
Jean Dubuffet LA GORGERETTE FRONCÉE (THE PUCKERED COLLAR), 1959 Botanical elements (lotus, scorzonera) and oil on paper on board
60 x 50.2 cm
Andrew Kreps Gallery Request Price & Availability
Site aux itinéraires (T 121) 9 septembre 1975 by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork painting
Jean Dubuffet Site aux itinéraires (T 121) 9 septembre 1975, 1975 Acrylic on canvas
114 x 146 cm
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Waddington Custot
Paysage avec promeneur saluant le public by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork painting
Jean Dubuffet Paysage avec promeneur saluant le public, 1949 Oil on canvas
88.9 x 116.2 cm
Pace Gallery
Rencontres en ville (Encounters in the City) by Jean Dubuffet contemporary artwork mixed media
Jean Dubuffet Rencontres en ville (Encounters in the City), 1980 Acrylic on paper, mounted on canvas
102 x 70 cm
Hauser & Wirth Request Price & Availability
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Jean Dubuffet
recent exhibitions

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Represented by these
Ocula Member Galleries

Bailly Gallery contemporary art gallery in Bailly Gallery l'Hôtel de Ville, Geneva, Switzerland
Bailly Gallery Paris, Geneva
Cardi Gallery contemporary art gallery in Milan, Italy
Cardi Gallery London, Milan
Pace Gallery contemporary art gallery in 540 West 25th Street, New York, United States
Pace Gallery Hong Kong, Beijing, London, Los Angeles, New York +6
Villepin contemporary art gallery in Hong Kong
Villepin Hong Kong
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