Biography
The exhibition presents works on paper from throughout Dubuffet’s career and paintings from the last two decades of his life. The works exhibited represent the diversity of his practice as a non-conformist whose career was subject to constant re-invention. The human figure, landscape and the mundane object are the recurrent themes of his work. Dubuffet’s images of people are expressionless characters, figures seemingly without identities. Throughout his career he was preoccupied with the exploration of the direct language of materials. A range of media such as paint, charcoal, crayon, biro and felt-tip pen shaped and formed the process of mark making on two-dimensional surfaces. For Dubuffet, material was as important as form. Dubuffet relentlessly questioned the possibilities of art practice. He did not consider beauty or visual pleasure to be valid objectives for an artist. Rather, art was ‘a language, an instrument of knowledge and an instrument of expression’ that ‘addresses itself to the mind, not to the eyes’. Dubuffet was driven by a desire to create works that challenged assumptions and accepted ideas about art. He was the foremost proponent of ‘art brut’ or ‘raw art’, the art of children and the insane, believing that their innocent or untutored outlook gave them the most direct access to their emotions, making their art more ‘honest’.
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Jean Dubuffet, Site avec 2 personnages (E 464) 8 janvier 1982, 1982 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 19 3/4 x 26 1/2 in / 50 x 67 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site avec 3 personnages (F 95) 9 juillet 1982, 1982 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/4 x 39 3/4 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site avec 5 personnages (E 262) 21 août 1981, 1981 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 19 3/4 x 26 3/8 in / 50 x 67 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site avec un personnage (E 272) 27 août 1981, 1981 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/4 x 19 5/8 in / 67 x 50 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site sans personnage (E 369) 5 novembre 1981, 1981 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 19 5/8 x 26 3/4 in / 50 x 67 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Situations disjointes 4 juillet 1979 (with 15 pieces of collage), 1979 acrylic on canvas backed paper with collage 20 x 27 1/2 in / 51 x 70 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Mire G 201 (Boléro) 12 février 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 39 3/8 x 52 3/4 in / 100 x 134 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Mire G 31 (Kowloon) 20 mars 1983, 1983 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Ouvert au public (B 26) 19 novembre 1980, 1980 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 40 1/8 x 27 1/2 in / 102 x 70 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Passe Cortege 12.10.65, 1965 oil on canvas 38 1/4 x 51 1/4 in / 97 x 130 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Paysage au château (avec 3 personnages) 11 juillet 1975, 1975 acrylic on canvas 38 1/4 x 51 1/4 in / 97 x 130 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site agreste 22 mai 1977, 1977 acrylic and paper collage on canvas (with 16 pieces of collage) 83 1/4 x 80 1/2 in / 211.5 x 204.5 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site aléatoire avec 2 personnages (F 31) 24 mars 1982, 1982 acrylic on canvas-backed paper with 2 pieces of collage 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site aléatoire avec 3 personnages (F89) 4 juillet 1982, 1982 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site aléatoire avec 4 personnages (F 2) 2 février 1982, 1982 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Site aléatoire avec 4 personnages (F 59) 8 mai 1982, 1982 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Donnée (H 2) 16 avril 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/4 x 39 3/4 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Donnée (H 32) 10 mai 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/4 x 39 3/4 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Donnée (H 43) 19 mai 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Donnée (H 56) 29 mai 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Inspection du territoire (F 141) 1er septembre 1982, 1982 acrylic on canvas-backed paper (with 3 pieces of collage) 26 3/8 x 39 3/8 in / 67 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Migration (L 41) 9 novembre 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 39 3/4 x 26 3/4 in / 100 x 67 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Mire G 121 (Boléro) 31 août 1983, 1983 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 52 3/4 x 118 in / 134 x 300 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Mire G 138 (Boléro) 29 septembre 1983, 1983 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 52 3/4 x 39 3/4 in / 134 x 100 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Champ d'expansion (L 37) 2 novembre 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 39 3/4 x 26 3/4 in / 100 x 67 cm
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Jean Dubuffet, Champ d'expansion (L 39) 7 novembre 1984, 1984 acrylic on canvas-backed paper 39 3/4 x 26 3/4 in / 100 x 67 cm
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