Dubuffet, Jean

Jean Dubuffet was a French painter, sculptor, and performance artist. He is a representative of Art Brut, which he himself also invented. His artistic career began at the Academy of Art in Le Havre, where he was taking drawing lessons from an early age. After school, he first studied music and literature in Paris, but only a few years later he opened his first exhibition in a renowned Paris gallery. 
 

His naive paintings immediately caused a stir. In the post-war era, works of this kind were uncommon. Dubuffet’s primitive, contour-focused and childish style of drawing was heavily criticized. But because of this unique pictorial language, he also became famous very quickly. Soon his works were exhibited in New York and other big cities all over the world. His main interest was the concept of anti-intellectual art. He called this movement "Art Brut". Its form- and colour language was inspired by amateurs, children, mentally challenged people, and individuals that are excluded from society, because they are non-conformist.
 

In addition to large works on walls, paintings, and sculptures, the artist was also actively involved in printmaking. He created numerous woodcuts and lithographs. In 1958 and 1959, he created an impressive range of prints entitled "Les Phénomènes". This was followed by a series called "Houroupe", in which he composed cell-like graphic elements into a carpet of forms consisting of black contours and red, white, and blue surfaces. Later, Dubuffet sought new means to make these prints and drawings more three-dimensional. He created impressive sculptures, made with polyester and consisting of walk-in labyrinths, that he presented at documenta 2, 3 and 4. They can still be seen in many museums around the world.