Collection: Jean Dubuffet

(1901-1985) French

Dubuffet was a successful propagandist, gaining notoriety for his attacks on the “asphyxiating” nature of conformism and mainstream culture. He was attracted to the art of children and the mentally ill, doing much to promote their work, both collecting it and promulgating the notion of Art Brut. His early work was influenced by that of outsiders, but largely shaped by the interests in materiality that preoccupied many post-war French artists in the Art Informel movement. While he remains best known for the thick textures and gritty surfaces of his pictures from the 1940s and 50s, he developed a radically new, graphic style in the 1960s, which he deemed Hourloupe and which he employed in many important public commissions.