Jean Dubuffet

French, 1901 - 1985

Explore Selected Works

See all 117 works of art
Jean Dubuffet, La ronde des images, 1977, acrylic on paper on canvas, Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection, 1996.81.5

La ronde des images

Jean Dubuffet · 1977 · acrylic on paper on canvas ·  Accession ID  1996.81.5

Jean Dubuffet, L'amphigourique (The Amphigoric One), 1954, slag, Gift of the Stephen Hahn Family Collection, 1995.30.5

L'amphigourique (The Amphigoric One)

Jean Dubuffet · 1954 · slag ·  Accession ID  1995.30.5

Tall, narrow, black building fronts fill this abstracted, horizontal painting. Partitions separating the buildings extend above the rooflines, and those, along with low domes atop some of the buildings, brush the top edge of the canvas. The narrow band of sky between the flat rooflines and the top of the composition is filled with cream-white paint, applied heavily in thick strokes. The buildings are painted with wide, horizontal strokes of black paint. The outlines of doors, windows, and the brick partitions between the buildings were incised into wet paint to delineate those features. Some of the outlines are also streaked with cobalt blue, butter yellow, brick red, and plum purple. Six people with oversized, round, peach-colored heads on spindly black bodies look out at us from windows across the composition. Cartoon-like eyes, noses, and smiling mouths are incised into wet paint. Along the bottom level, the buildings are numbered 78, 80, 82, and 84. Signs, also incised in wet, black paint to reveal white outlines, appear over the doors. The leftmost building reads “OPTICIEN” above “Leroy.” The next store is “PARFUMS,” then “MODES,” “Coiffeur,” “JOURNEAX,” “PRIMEURS,” and “BAR.” Under “PRIMEURS,” a sign on the store front reads “FRUITS ET LEGUMES.” Two people walk along the street, at the bottom of the canvas. One is to our left of center and stands facing us, smiling. The other is to our right, also smiling as he walks to our left in profile.
Jean Dubuffet, Façades d'immeubles (Building Façades), 1946, oil on canvas, Gift of the Stephen Hahn Family Collection, 1995.30.3

Façades d'immeubles (Building Façades)

Jean Dubuffet · 1946 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1995.30.3

Abstract forms in white, outlined with bold black lines, turn, twist, and curve up around a person with cartoon-like features in this free-standing sculptural piece. The shapes create legs and are pierced with holes, like an abstracted coral reef. The forms are bright white with thick black outlines around all the edges and crossing the curves and angled sides of the forms. In this photograph, it is not possible to see if a vaguely H-shaped section to our left is attached to or stands independently from the row behind it. A person with abstracted eyes, nose, and mouth stands in front of the sculpture, to our right. In this photograph, the sculpture stands on a plinth in a room with a wood floor and a white wall behind it.
Jean Dubuffet, Site à l'homme assis, 1969-1984, polyester resin, Gift of Robert M. and Anne T. Bass and Arnold and Mildred Glimcher, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.100.1

Site à l'homme assis

Jean Dubuffet · 1969-1984 · polyester resin ·  Accession ID  1991.100.1

Jean Dubuffet, L'Arnaque (The Swindle), 1962, gouache on wove paper, Gift of the Stephen Hahn Family Collection, 1995.29.25

L'Arnaque (The Swindle)

Jean Dubuffet · 1962 · gouache on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1995.29.25

Jean Dubuffet, Rinçage, Graissage (Carwash, Oilchange), 1962, gouache on wove paper, Gift of the Stephen Hahn Family Collection, 1995.29.26

Rinçage, Graissage (Carwash, Oilchange)

Jean Dubuffet · 1962 · gouache on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1995.29.26

Jean Dubuffet, Café au damier, 1961, gouache, watercolor, pen and black ink and collage over graphite on wove paper, Gift of the Stephen Hahn Family Collection, 1995.29.24

Café au damier

Jean Dubuffet · 1961 · gouache, watercolor, pen and black ink and collage over graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  1995.29.24

Jean Dubuffet, La Fiat aux pare-chocs (The Fiat with Bumpers), 1961, oil on canvas, Gift of the Stephen Hahn Family Collection, 1995.29.13

La Fiat aux pare-chocs (The Fiat with Bumpers)

Jean Dubuffet · 1961 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1995.29.13

Jean Dubuffet, Resonances, 1961, color lithograph, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. N. Richard Miller, 1971.84.29

Resonances

Jean Dubuffet · 1961 · color lithograph ·  Accession ID  1971.84.29

Jean Dubuffet, Insouciance, 1961, color lithograph, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. N. Richard Miller, 1971.84.26

Insouciance

Jean Dubuffet · 1961 · color lithograph ·  Accession ID  1971.84.26