Who was the painter Jean Dubuffet?
The artist Jean Dubuffet was a French painter and sculptor. One of the most important artists of the 20th century, Dubuffet is also known as the theorist behind the Art Brut movement.
Driven by anti-cultural ideals, Dubuffet developed an interest in art forms created outside of official realms of creation. The term “Art Brut”—or “outsider art”—was thus conceived and the basement of the Galerie René Drouin in Paris’ Place Vendôme became known as the Foyer de l’Art Brut. In 1948, the Foyer de l’Art Brut moved to a house borrowed from the publisher Gaston Gallimard and became the Compagnie de l’Art Brut. In 1947, the French painter Jean Dubuffet was represented by the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, which would show his work on a regular basis until 1959. The Galerie René Drouin showed 200 Art Brut artworks by 60 different artists in 1949. In 1962, the painter Jean Dubuffet acquired a building at 137 Rue de Sèvres (now the site of the Fondation Dubuffet), where he installed his collection of Art Brut artworks. In 1967, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris exhibited a selection of 700 works by 75 artists. The artist Jean Dubuffet never included his own works in this collection—he was, above all, its founder and theorist. This collection of Art Brut works now includes some 30,000 pieces.
If you would like to find out more about the French painter Jean Dubuffet and his works, please visit the artist’s dedicated page or the page on Art Brut.
