Maker/Artist
Dubuffet, Jean
French painter, sculptor, printmaker, 1901-1985
Dubuffet began his career as a wine merchant, and did not devote himself completely to painting until the age of 41. He valued, collected, and emulated 'art brut,' a term he coined to describe work that is non-conformist, unprocessed, spontaneous, and insulated from all social and cultural influences. He was prolific and moved through figurative and abstract phases, arriving in 1962 at an invented style that he called Hourloupe, based on graphic black-lined cells painted in a restricted palette of mostly red, blue, and white. These were first paintings and drawings, but soon became sculptural, at times becoming monumental or environmental.
