“In the mid-1940s, French artist Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) shocked the art establishment with his paintings inspired by children’s drawings, graffiti, and the art of psychiatric patients. Rejecting conventional notions of beauty and good taste, Dubuffet asserted that invention and creativity could only be found outside traditional cultural channels. In his efforts to emulate the immediacy of the untrained and untutored, he often turned to drawing, a medium in which he could indulge his passion for research and experimentation.
This exhibition, comprising some one hundred works on paper, surveys Dubuffet’s most innovative period, from 1935 to 1962. His favorite subjects were mundane activities of everyday life—taking the subway, bicycling in the countryside—but he also tackled traditional genres such as the portrait, the female nude, and the landscape, in which he could better subvert expectations with his outrageous depictions. Insatiably curious, Dubuffet explored unorthodox materials and techniques, infusing his drawings with a sense of adventure that has kept them vibrant to this day.” — Introductory Wall Text
“The worse one draws, the more likely one is to make a creative contribution.” — Jean Dubuffet
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Jean Dubuffet, Le Métro, March 1943, Gouache. Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris. Musee national d’art moderne / Centre de creation industrielle. Photography by Philippe Migeat. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Jazz, April 12, 1943, Gouache and brush and ink. George and Joyce Wein Collection, New York. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Plage aux baigneurs (Beach with Bathers), June 5, 1944, Pen and ink. The Museum of Modern Art, Gift of the artist in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph F. Colin, 1968. © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Jean Dubuffet, Quatre personnages (Four Figures), July 1946, Gouache, with incising, on coarse sandpaper. Richard and Mary L. Gray and the Gray Collection Trust. Photography by Tom Van Eynde. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Léautaud griffures blanches (Léautaud with White Scratches), November 1946, India ink on scratchboard. Collection of Judy and Marc Herzstein. Photography by Thomas R. DuBrock. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Jean Dubuffet, Trois Arabes (Three Arabs), January–April 1948, Gouache. Private collection. Photography by Kent Pell. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Corps de dame (Lady’s Body), June–December 1950, Pen and india ink. The Joan and Lester Avnet Collection, Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Personnage au chapeau, seins bas superposes (Figure with a Hat, Superimposed Low Breasts), January 1952. Gouache and india ink. The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation. Photography by Christopher Burke Studio. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Jean Dubuffet, La fermière (The Farmer’s Wife), March 1955, Assemblage of imprints: collage of cut india-ink imprints with brush and ink, mounted on paperboard. The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation. Photography by Christopher Burke Studio. © 2016 Artists Rights. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Porteur de pain (The Bread Carrier), July–September 1955, Assemblage of imprints: collage of cut india-ink imprints. The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Shapiro. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Portrait de Jean Paulhan (Portrait of Jean Paulhan), July 1955, Butterfly wings and ink on paper laid on paper. Collection of Judy and Marc Herzstein. Photography by Thomas R. DuBrock. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Jean Dubuffet, Jardin medieval (Medieval Garden), July 1955, Butterfly wings and watercolor. Glimcher Family Collection. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Barbe des colères (Wrathful Beard), June 1959, Assemblage of imprints: collage of cut and torn indiaink imprints with brush and ink. Fondation Dubuffet, Paris. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Barbe de majesté (Beard of Majesty), September 1959, Assemblage of imprints: collage of cut and torn india-ink imprints with brush and ink and gouache. Fondation Dubuffet, Paris. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Jean Dubuffet, L’Arnaque (The Swindle), June 2, 1962, Gouache. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Stephen Hahn Family Collection, 1995. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Jean Dubuffet, Rue des Petits-Champs (Bombance), July 3, 1962, Gouache. Fondation Dubuffet, Paris. © 2016 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image courtesy The Morgan Library.
Installation view. Photograph by Corrado Serra for Arts Summary.
Isabelle Dervaux is the exhibition curator. After the Morgan the exhibition will travel to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, January 29 – April 30.
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